The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has directed that allegations of a $46,000 bribery involving members of the 2015 Energy Committee over the approval of the AKSA emergency power agreement be referred to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for further investigation.
The allegations were made by former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Kwaku Berko.
The directive follows an internal administrative review conducted to establish the circumstances surrounding the consideration and approval of the agreement and identify individuals who participated in the relevant parliamentary proceedings.
“These decisions rest on a simple conviction, and that conviction is an institution charged with holding others to account must itself meet the highest standards of transparency, integrity and accountability. When allegations of this nature arise,” he stated.
Mr Bagbin, however, said the review found no evidence that any Member of Parliament or Parliamentary Service staff received the alleged payment in connection with the agreement.
“The records and interviews examined did not yield evidence that any Member of Parliament or officer of the Parliamentary Service received the alleged payments in connection with the approval of the Agreement. I must, however, emphasise that this finding reflects only the limited material available to the review. It does not establish whether the alleged payments were made, nor does it identify or clear any person who may have received them.
“Those questions can only be examined by the appropriate law enforcement authorities through examination of financial transactions, communications and other evidence beyond the reach of Parliament. The review is therefore not the final word on this matter,” he noted.
