Ghana: Asante Berko Never Bribed Parliamentarians To Pass Power Deal-Adams Mutawakilu

A Ranking Member of Mines and Energy Committee in Ghana’s Parliament, Adam Mutawakilu has rejected bribery and corruption allegations made against Members of Parliament in the approval of the AKSA Energy deal.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week charged Mr. Berko, who is a former banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, for arranging at least $2.5 million in bribes to be paid to Ghana Government officials and MPs between 2015 and 2016.

The alleged bribes were reportedly to help a Turkish company secure a power purchase agreement deal in Ghana back in 2015 amid the power crisis.

Though there are no details yet on the nature of Mr. Berko’s engagement with Parliament, Mr. Mutawakilu has come out to say the Mines and Energy Committee had no direct dealings with the accused.

“I want to state emphatically that nothing of that sort happened and Parliament never received anything with respect to performing our legitimate duties as to the passing of the power purchasing agreement. It wasn’t only his but we passed several agreements but there was no situation where there were any underhand dealings,” he told Accra- based Citi FM.

Mr. Asante Berko on Wednesday, resigned as Managing Director of the state owned Tema Oil Refinery after issuing a statement denying the bribery allegation.

“I state categorically that I have not paid any bribes to government officials, Members of Parliament nor any officials of Parliament. I have had no contact with Members of Parliament nor officials of Parliament, regarding the approval of this transaction,” Mr Asante Berko stated.

The Damongo legislator also said it would be prudent for Parliament to wait on the case in the U.S to develop significantly.

“Thankfully he himself has admitted that he never paid anything to Parliament or any other persons and now the matter is before a court and we expect the court to do its work while we monitor the outcome which will go further to indicate whether the Speaker will take as a matter of urgency,” the Ranking Member said.