Prime News Ghana

Appointment of Whittal over Quayson will not augur well for the administration of CHRAJ- Emile Short

By Justice Kofi Bimpeh
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Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short has stated that the last-minute appointment of Joe Whittal over Richard Quayson who has been the acting commissioner of CHRAJ for several years will not augur well for the commission.

Speaking to Starr News, Emile Short was of the opinion that Richard Quayson would be the best appointment for the commission.“In the first place there was a report in one of the newspapers that Joe

“In the first place there was a report in one of the newspapers that Joe Whittal was the acting commissioner which is not true, it is has been Quayson who has been the acting commissioner for several years , moreover Mr. Quayson is senior to Whittal in terms of call to the Bar and so what the President has done is to appoint someone who was not acting commissioner and who is junior to the acting commissioner and I don’t think that will augur well for smooth administration of the commission.”

According to him the last-minute appointment of the CHRAJ boss is contrary to the spirit of the transitional Act “my other concern is that making this important appointment to constitutional bodies like CHRAJ and NCCE during the transitional process fall contrary to the spirit of the transitional Act and I think that it would have been more prudent for the outgoing administration to let the incoming administration make these very important appointments, however, the matter is before the Supreme Court.”

He indicated that even though there is no legal requirement for the acting commissioner to be appointed as a commission, he thinks for the sake of good working relation, the acting commissioner should have been appointed “there is no legal requirement as such but what I’m saying is that in terms of ensuring smooth administration and a good working relationship between the two, and Mr. Quayson having served as an acting commissioner and indeed senior to Mr. Whittal it seems odd that Mr. Whittal should have been appointed over the head of Mr. Richard Quayson.”