(Former Speaker returns items)

Page 14, June 6, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Daniel Nkrumah
THE former Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, has returned some of the items he took away from his official residence after his retirement, sources at Parliament have hinted.
The former speaker was given a 10-day ultimatum by the Parliamentary Services Board (PSB), and with six more days to go, sources at Parliament had stated that Mr Sekyi Hughes was yet to return all the items.
The source told the Daily Graphic that officials of Parliament had been stationed in the house to monitor the exercise.
It could not, however, mention the items that had been brought back and those yet to be brought but the source said they were still monitoring events to see if all the items could be brought by the deadline.
The former Speaker, according to the source, began conveying the items to the official residence of the Speaker last Tuesday evening and as of Wednesday morning, some of the items, were reportedly being conveyed to the residence, which was yet to be occupied by the current speaker.
When the Daily Graphic visited the residence at Cantoments, there was virtual calm with a police officer detailed at the security gate as the only indication of human presence in the house.
In an ‘across the window’ terse conversation, the police officer declined to comment on any movement of goods and persons into the residence.
The PSB on Monday, June 1, faulted the ex-Speaker of the House, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, for illegally taking away furnishings from his official residence at the end of his tenure.
In its reaction to the ex-Speaker’s response to an ad hoc committee report on the affair, the PSB also expressed regret at Mr Hughes’s conduct, noting that he did it without authority.
An official statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu, stated that “The board has decided that the former Speaker should return all the items to the official residence of the Speaker within 10 days to enable the board to conclude this regrettable matter”.
It explained that the board’s attention was drawn to the matter on March 12, this year, during its first meeting and it subsequently enquired from the former Speaker about the whereabouts of the items.
According to the statement, since the board received evasive responses from the ex-Speaker, it scheduled an emergency meeting to decide on its next line of action.