Following the conviction of Asante Berko, a Ghanaian-American businessman in Brooklyn, New York, some members of parliament (MPs) have been caught up in the scandal.
The former TOR MD was convicted by a federal jury in the United States over a bribery and money laundering scheme linked to a power plant project in Ghana.
According to information gathered, Asante Berko and others conspired to pay more than US$1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials to help secure a multimillion-dollar power plant deal for Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S.
The shady deal centres on a power plant deal that was under development and financing between December 2014 and July 2015.
Asante Berko, who was then an executive director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs at the time, was involved in managing the transaction between the bank’s client, Aksa Enerji, and the Republic of Ghana.
According to US court text, bribes were also paid to five Ghanaian officials during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to view equipment for the power plant.
The three former Members of Parliament who served on Parliament’s Select Committee on Mines and Energy have been caught up for their alleged role. Dr Kwabena Donkor, Alhaji Sorogho and KT Hammond are among those alleged to have travelled to Turkey to inspect equipment for the AKSA project.
Reports by The Herald detailed that “the parliamentary committee was led by then Madina MP Alhaji Amadu Bukari Sorogho as chairman, with Adam Mutawakilu as vice-chairman and former Adansi Asokwa MP Kwabena Tahir Hammond as the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) ranking member.
The committee’s membership included the late Mahama Toure Naser; Gershon KB Gbediaeme; Salifu Ameen; Kwadwo Emmanuel Agyekum; Michael Coffie Boampong; Cletus Apul Avoka; Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka; Mathias Kwame Ntow; Edward M. Ennin; Dr Arthur Stephen Nana Ato; Isaac Kwame Asiamah; William Owuraku Aidoo; Ussif Mustapha; Benjamin Kofi Ayeh; and Joseph Cudjoe.
The administrative staff listed alongside the committee were Peace Fiawoyife, Clerk to the Committee; Benjamin Tachie Antiedu, Assistant Clerk; and Cephas Egbefome, Research Officer”.
Part of a news article by the Herald details, “a technical inspection trip to Turkey was organised during the consideration of the AKSA project, with Alhaji Sorogho and Hammond among those who travelled to inspect equipment intended for the emergency power plant in Ghana to address the power crisis nicknamed “Dumsor”.
The information available to this paper is that the trip was planned and arranged through the then Ministry of Power, headed by Dr Kwabena Donkor. The minister, who was also the MP for Pru East at the time, was part of the trip with Sorogho and Hammond.
Other MPs, The Herald learnt, did not embark on the trip, but most of them were said to have collected part of the money. Members of the parliamentary staff were also not included in the trip, and it’s unclear whether they received any of the cash.
A member of the committee’s leadership was said to have been in charge of the cash received from the project’s promoters.
He allegedly kept the money from the other members or substantially reduced their shares without informing them. This often resulted in confusion at committee meetings, with some members reportedly storming his office to demand their share.
One particular MP, from the Ashanti Region, who refused to be short-changed, was repeatedly drawn into near-fistfights with members of the committee’s leadership, particularly the one who hoarded the money”.
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