Baffour Awuah Blasts Systemic Failures Exposed by AKSA Bribery Allegat

A Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has called for a full-scale inquiry into the AKSA power deal, arguing that bribery allegations expose weaknesses in Ghana's systems for preventing corruption, protecting public funds, and prosecuting wrongdoing. The controversy centers on a power transaction between the Republic of Ghana and Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji, which has been the subject of renewed attention following criminal proceedings in the United States involving former Goldman Sachs banker Asante Kwaku Berko.

Systemic Failures Exposed by AKSA Bribery Allegations

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, said the AKSA controversy should prompt Ghana to examine not only the conduct of individuals but also the institutional safeguards that allowed the alleged scheme to take place. He argued that the individuals allegedly targeted by the bribery scheme were not ordinary private citizens but public officials whose positions gave them influence over decisions relating to the AKSA Energy project.

Mr. Baffour Awuah argued that the central concern was therefore the possible compromise of public decision-making. "And so basically, they are people that have compromised public decision making at a very point where Ghanaians were very vulnerable," he added. He emphasized that the problem becomes particularly concerning if similar failures occur repeatedly, saying "When you have your systems to ensure value for money, your systems for ensuring prevention of corruption, your system for ensuring or prosecuting corruption at that level, failing not once, not twice, not thrice but many times, it's then obvious that something is terribly wrong with your system."

AKSA Controversy Raises Questions About Institutional Safeguards

The US indictment alleges that Mr. Berko and co-conspirators sought to influence Ghanaian officials involved in securing approvals for Aksa Enerji's power project. The indictment describes alleged payments to officials and other steps purportedly taken to secure regulatory and governmental approvals. Mr. Baffour Awuah said the AKSA controversy should also be viewed against what he considers a worrying pattern of allegations concerning Ghanaian public contracts being pursued or exposed in foreign jurisdictions.

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South said the situation exposes weaknesses in the domestic systems designed to ensure value for money, prevent corruption, and prosecute corruption when it occurs. "It exposes, one, the failure in our systems domestically, the systems for ensuring value for money and then the systems for ensuring that we prevent corruption or we prosecute corruption locally," he said. He argued that the existence of multiple safeguards should make it difficult for bribery or improper influence to determine public decisions.

Calls for a Credible Inquiry

Mr. Baffour Awuah rejected any suggestion that the NPP's demand for an investigation into the AKSA deal was politically motivated or frivolous. "What it means is that the call we made was not a frivolous call," he said. "The call for an enquiry is very, very necessary for any country that wants to make progress." He stressed that an inquiry should not end with the publication of a report and that the government must act on the findings of the investigation.

Mr. Baffour Awuah also used his intervention to defend the NPP's record on prosecuting its own officials, saying "I want to put it on record that at no point has the New Patriotic Party ever, whilst in government, filed nolle prosequi in respect of corruption cases involving its appointees." He emphasized that a credible inquiry would need to establish what happened, identify the decision-makers involved, examine the approval processes, and determine whether any laws or public-sector procedures were breached.

Source: JOY