CHRAJ Clears Rev. Kusi Boateng – No Conflict Of Interest

Rev. Kusi-Boateng

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has cleared the Secretary to the National Cathedral Board of Trustees, Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng of double identity – having two different passports issued under different names and with different dates of birth.

CHRAJ, upon conclusion of investigations into a petition presented by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, came to the conclusion that Rev. Kusi-Boateng only has one diplomatic and one ordinary passport issued in his name; Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, adding that at no point in time was he issued a passport under his name Victor Kusi-Boateng.

The Commission also cleared Rev. Kusi-Boateng of conflict of interest situation by being a member/director of the National Cathedral Board and at the same time a director of JNS Talent Centre.

Again, the Commission found no wrong-doing on the part of Rev. Kusi-Boateng regarding the transfer of GH¢2.6 million from the accounts of the National Cathedral into the accounts of JNS Talent Centre, as the money was a short-term loan which was returned to the company with no interest.

Petition

Mr. Ablakwa, in January 2023, petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate allegations of conflict of interest, double identity, among others against Rev. Kusi- Boateng.

Rev. Kusi-Boateng, right from the onset, denied all the allegations made against him, and even initiated a defamation suit against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for North Tongu.

Findings

But CHRAJ, in its findings signed by the Commissioner Dr. Joseph Whittal, cleared Rev. Kusi-Boateng of the allegations made against him.

On the issue of multiple identity, Mr. Ablakwa had alleged that Rev. Kusi-Boateng held two different passports, each bearing one of his two names with different dates of birth.

He attached a passport issued under the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi but could not attach any passport issued under the second name, and stated that “the search however continues for Victor Kusi-Boateng’s passport.”

To effectively resolve this, CHRAJ by a letter dated July 10, 2023, requested information on passports under the name Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng and Kwabena Adu Gyamfi from the Passport Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

On July 14, 2023, the Passport Office responded with the various times that Rev. Kusi-Boateng was issued with diplomatic and ordinary passports under the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi from 2016 through to 2021, and indicated that “there is no Victor Kusi-Boateng in the Passport database.”

Based on the evidence before it, CHRAJ found that contrary to the claims by Mr. Ablakwa, Rev. Kusi-Boateng only holds one diplomatic and one ordinary passport and at no point was he ever issued a passport under the name Victor Kusi-Boateng.

Conflict of Interest

CHRAJ, in its findings on the allegations of conflict of interest made against Rev. Kusi-Boateng, found that there were no documents pointing to an agreement between the National Cathedral and JNS Talent Centre suggesting that a service had been rendered by the company to National Cathedral.

CHRAJ found that on August 27, 2021, JNS Talent Centre transferred GH¢2.6 million to the accounts of National Cathedral as financial assistance to enable it pay contractors working on the Cathedral project “and upon coming into good standing financially, the National Cathedral of Ghana paid back the exact same amount of GH¢2.6 million” to JNS Talent Centre.

The Commission pointed out that the GH¢2.6 million was in no way payment for services rendered to the National Cathedral of Ghana by JNS Talent Centre as alleged by Mr. Ablakwa.

It further stated that the only role Rev. Kusi-Boateng played was to assist the National Cathedral secure an interest-free loan to enable it pay monies due to contractors, adding that “in such a context, the Commission’s considered view is that the issue of conflict-of-interest does not arise at all.”

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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