OSP can’t prosecute allegations of bribery in Parliament due to refusal of accuser to cooperate
Despite calls on him to resign for mismanaging the country’s economy, Ken Ofori-Atta is till at post as Ghana’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, more than two years after numerous calls for his resignation or removal; and allegations that Majority MPs had been bribed by a popular Ghanaian businessman to stop demanding for his resignation.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) which started investigations into the allegations that the 80 Majority MPs who were calling for Ofori-Atta’s resignation had been bribed by a businessman to stop the demands has announced that it has concluded the investigation, but is unable to prosecute anyone because it hasn’t gathered enough material evidence that can stand in court – and that was because the main accuser in the case, Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North who was hostile to its investigating officers refused to cooperate.
The names of the businessman and some others interviewed during the investigation were redacted in a copy of the OSP report on the case dated December 28, 2023 and shared with Ghana Business News.
“The circumstances of the case are such that the cooperation and testimony of the accuser of the well-known wealthy businessman are essential to a successful prosecution. That is to say, in the context of this case, the gathered intelligence of the OSP and its investigation of the activities of its identified suspect, Mr. (the businessman) are not sufficient to sustain criminal charges. The institution of criminal proceedings would of necessity require the input and testimony of the accuser,” it said.
By a complaint dated November 3, 2022, a pressure group, OccupyGhana petitioned the OSP to investigate allegations of attempted bribery of the majority caucus of Parliament by a wealthy businessman, the OSP says.
The pressure group which filed a complaint with the OSP stated that it had followed media reports from interviews by Joy 99.7 FM (a radio station operating from Accra) with the Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region and Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Mr. Appiah-Kubi – in which the two Members of Parliament alleged that an unnamed, wealthy businessman had attempted to bribe a section of the majority caucus of Parliament.
According to the OSP report, in the estimation of OccuyGhana, if the allegation of attempted bribery is established, it would amount to an attempt to influence the conduct of Members of Parliament in the course of their official duties. Consequently, OccuyGhana requested the OSP to investigate the affair and to proceed to prosecute, if established.
But after the investigation which was conducted with the assistance and facilitation of the Office of the Speaker of Parliament for eight months, and done with as little intrusion into the privacy of persons as the circumstances permitted, the OSP says it doesn’t have sufficient information to sustain criminal charges in court. It however added that should it find sufficient information in the future the case can be re-opened.
The report says among other things that the investigation showed that around September 2022, eighty (80) Members of Parliament of the NPP publicly called for the resignation or removal of the Minister for Finance, Mr. Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta over complaints of his inability to properly manage the economy of Ghana. The apparent spokesperson of the group of eighty was Mr. Appiah-Kubi.
It added that, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Mr. Appiah-Kubi granted interviews on Joy 99.7 FM, a radio station operating from Accra, on developments in respect of the demand for the resignation or removal of Mr. Ofori-Atta. The interviews were widely circulated on other media portals, including audio-visual renditions on television on Joy Prime and Joy News.
Mr. Appiah-Kubi’s interview was first in time. He stated outrightly that a certain well-known wealthy Ghanaian businessman visited Parliament House on October 1, 2022 and requested a meeting with a section of NPP Members of Parliament. He stated that at the meeting the well-known wealthy businessman offered them huge sums of money in envelopes with the intention of influencing them to rescind their demand for the resignation or removal of Mr. Ofori-Atta. He further stated that the MPs stood their ground and rejected the offer of money. Mr. Appiah-Kubi did not disclose the identity of the well-known wealthy businessman during the interview, the report said.
It says Mr. Appiah-Kubi admitted granting an interview on Joy FM in which he claimed that a certain well-known wealthy Ghanaian businessman visited Parliament House on October 1, 2022 and requested a meeting with a section of NPP Members of Parliament and that the businessman in question had attempted to bribe them. However, he declined to watch the audio-visual rendition of his interview on Joy FM. The interview was replayed to him anyway.
“Thereafter, he effectively invoked his right to remain silent. He refused to disclose the identities of the Members of Parliament present at the meeting with the undisclosed businessman. He refused to disclose the identity of the wealthy businessman. He refused to disclose the amount of money offered by the undisclosed businessman. He refused to answer all other questions posed to him,” the report said.
Additionally, the report indicated that Mr. Appiah-Kubi showed open hostility to the authorised officers of the OSP and he was unyielding in his resolve not to cooperate with the investigation.
“Indeed, he flatly refused to cooperate with the OSP, though he had stated that he would fully cooperate with the investigation, and though he declared to the media subsequent to the OSP’s interview that he fully cooperated with the OSP,” it said.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi