Member of Parliament for Asawase, Mohammad Mubarak Muntaka, has issued an unqualified apology to the Supreme Court of Ghana over allegations of bribery he made about an unnamed member of the bench.
His allegations came barely 48hpours after the Speaker of Parliament elections. The elections had already been marred with several issues including booting and snatching of ballot papers.
The Asawase legislator is reported to have alleged that a certain Supreme Court Judge attempted to bribe a member of parliament of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to vote for the immediate past Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye against the candidate of the NDC, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin.
In a formally written retraction and apology to the Supreme Court, Muntaka withdrew the allegations and expressed regret about the unintended damage his comments had on the image of the judiciary, supreme court in particular.
Meanwhile, in a statement on the development, the Judicial Service earlier said it was investigating the matter.
“The Judiciary has noted with grave concern the remarks of Mohammed- Mubarak Muntaka, Hon. Member of Parliament for Asawase, which have been widely published in the media, alleging that a Justice of the Supreme Court attempted to bribe an NDC female Member of Parliament to vote for Right Hon. Aaron Mike Oquaye, in the election of the Speaker of the 8th Parliament, which took place on 7th January 2021,″ the statement said.
“The general public is hereby assured that the Hon. Chief Justice considers this allegation of impropriety a matter of grave import to the integrity of the Judiciary.
“The Hon. Chief Justice is therefore-taking steps to solicit the assistance of Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka MP, to establish the facts in order that the matter can be dealt with appropriately,” the statement added.
As at the time of going to press, the judiciary had not responded to Muntaka’s apology.