Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, a Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has stated that the appropriate disciplinary action for Sammy Gyamfi, Acting CEO of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), over the controversial gifting of US dollars to evangelist Nana Agradaa would be suspension rather than dismissal.
Speaking on JoyNews AM Show monitored by Kumasimail, Dr. Kwapong rejected calls for Gyamfi’s outright sacking, emphasizing the need for clarity and specificity in the government’s newly launched Code of Conduct for public officials.
He said, “Worst case scenario I expect suspension”.
He called for a review of the code’s sanctions section to clearly define penalties for different offenses, distinguishing between minor infractions and serious acts like corruption or conflicts of interest.
Dr. Kwapong stressed that the incident presents an opportunity to strengthen the enforcement mechanisms of the code of conduct, including clear sanctions for first and subsequent offenses.
He explained “In fact, to quickly revisit the code of conduct, I think one of the things it needs now is more clarity and specificity, especially in the last section on measures for violations. For example, the code should clearly outline appropriate sanctions for a first offense, depending on the type of violation.
“For instance, if someone improperly files a government document, should they receive the same sanction as someone who engages in an act of corruption or a conflict of interest? We need much greater clarity on this”, he stated.
He then added “The goal is to have a clear system where, for example, one strike results in a specific penalty, two strikes lead to a different penalty, and so on, with appropriate penalties defined for each type of violation”.
The controversy has also drawn calls from other quarters, including the Minority in Parliament, demanding Gyamfi’s immediate suspension and a thorough investigation into the source of the foreign currency involved, citing potential violations of the Foreign Exchange Act and the Currency Act.
Source :www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
