General News of Wednesday, 25 April 2012Source: citifmonline The Commissioner for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mrs. Laurretta Vivian Lamptey, has confirmed that she will give up her membership as a board member of the Ghana Commercial Bank, a move she says she would do in nine weeks.

This follows mounting pressure on her to resign by a group known as the Centre for National Affairs (CNA) which has accused her of violating Article 222 of the 1992 Constitution which prohibits the Commissioner from holding any other office during her tenure.

Presently, the Centre for National Affairs (CNA) has filed a writ at the Supreme Court against Mrs. Lamptey on her delay to take a decisive action on her dual position, after serving her a 24 hour notice.

Speaking on Citi FM, Mrs. Lamptey once again defended her GCB board membership saying she represented the interest of SNNIT which has shares in the bank.

The Commissioner has, nevertheless, decided to retain her post at CHRAJ and retire her membership at GCB.

“I want to repeat that the position at GCB is not an appointment by state and so I have not breached any law, as far as I know. I consider myself a person with integrity. I have done my research, consulted people with apt constitutional knowledge and I know that I do not hold two state positions.”

“That being said, I have made public that I will be retiring in nine weeks,” she concluded

On the lawsuit filed by CNA, Mrs. Lamptey said she will not take any steps to resolve the matter.

Mr. Rocky Obeng in his reaction said the Commissioner’s actions or inactions will weaken the faith Ghanaians have in CHRAJ.

He however pointed out that it was prudent to leave the matter in the hands of the law as Mrs. Lamptey was not “above the law.”**