Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP), Freddie Blay, has denied claims by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that he has not been cooperative in an ongoing investigation into the procurement of some 275 buses for the NPP.
The commission had claimed it has not been able to serve Mr. Blay an invitation to appear before it for hearing and has thus proceeded to the high court praying he be jailed for avoiding investigations.
But Mr. Blay Tuesday discounted the claims in an Accra High Court contempt hearing brought against him by the commission.
He observed there have been media reports that he was running away from justice, but described them as untruths, insisting he did not in any way “disrespect, malign, disobey or insult CHRAJ or the court”.
He explained his counsel has made frantic efforts to get photocopies of all relevant documents from the commission to be able to enter a defense in the investigations but to no avail.
Mr. Blay does not see the basis for the contempt charges, describing the suit as “fatally flawed and procedurally incompetent”.
The court has given the commission 14 days to respond to the affidavit filed by Mr. Blay.
Speaking to the media after the court hearing, Mr. Blay said he has been in the country all along and does not understand why CHRAJ claims to have challenges locating him.
“You say you can’t find me, I have an office, I have a house, I’m all over in this country, where can I hide?” he wondered, questioning the claims of CHRAJ.
He suspects there is a conscious attempt to wear him a political veil in the matter but is optimistic he will come out clean.
Background
Then an aspiring chairman of the NPP, Mr. Blay promised to buy a mini-bus each for the 275 constituencies, a promised which was eventually reported to have been fulfilled.
As the board chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), some Ghanaians feared public funds may have entered the procurement of the buses, hence a petition by a group called Coalition of Social Justice to have CHRAJ investigate him.
Sitting was adjourned to July 24 for the court to deliver judgment on the contempt application.
By 3news.com|Ghana