The People’s Alliance for Governance and Accountability (PAGA) is calling on the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and Parliament to immediately investigate the Ghanaian aspect of the AKSA emergency power agreement scandal, following the conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker Asante Kwaku Berko in the United States.
Addressing the media in Accra , PAGA said the case has taken on renewed urgency after a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Mr. Berko for conspiring to pay and paying more than US$1 million in bribes to secure approval for the AKSA power plant project between 2014 and 2015.
According to PAGA, U.S. prosecutors alleged that more than US$1 million was paid in bribes to senior Ghanaian government officials to facilitate the AKSA deal.
The group further stated that five top Ghanaian officials were taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey and received US$5,000 each in connection with the project. Payments were also allegedly made to Members of Ghana’s Parliament and other government officials.
The allegations date to the period of Ghana’s “DUMSOR” crisis, when prolonged power outages crippled businesses and disrupted livelihoods.
“While Ghanaians endured the crisis and made painful sacrifices, public officials entrusted with protecting the public interest were allegedly involved in conducts that served their private interests,” PAGA stated.
PAGA questioned what action Ghana has taken against the alleged recipients of the bribes.
“If bribes were paid to Ghanaian public officials and Members of Parliament, what is Ghana doing about the alleged recipients? Has the country outsourced her criminal prosecutorial powers to the United States?” the group asked.
The alliance noted that former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu had raised concerns about the AKSA transaction as far back as April 2020, indicating that Ghana had reason to act long before the U.S. conviction.
PAGA laid out six demands for accountability:
PAGA called on the OSP to publicly confirm whether it is investigating the Ghanaian aspect of the AKSA bribery allegations and to state the status. It also asked the OSP to release, via the Right to Information Act, relevant reports and information shared with U.S. authorities.
“The OSP cannot help investigate the case for the United States and then become a spectator when the Ghanaian dimension comes into view,” PAGA said.
The OSP, Attorney-General, EOCO and Financial Intelligence Centre must obtain the full evidential record from the U.S. proceedings and investigate every Ghanaian beneficiary or official identified.
PAGA urged the Speaker to establish a bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee to probe the approval and ratification of the AKSA agreement. It noted that 18 MPs served on the Mines and Energy Committee during the Third Session of the Sixth Parliament in 2015 when the agreement was ratified.
“Our Parliament should rise to clear its name because its image is under serious scrutiny,” PAGA said, and called for the proceedings to be televised live.
Government should tell Ghanaians what action was taken when the allegations first emerged, beyond statements of collaboration with U.S. authorities.
Former Minister of Power Dr. Kwabena Donkor and every person named in the U.S. proceedings must be required to account for their roles and any benefits received. Administrative measures such as interdiction should be considered pending investigation.
PAGA said Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) must not be applied selectively. “Corruption has no party colour. If ORAL is genuinely about recovering public resources and fighting corruption, then the AKSA matter must be pursued with the same determination.”
PAGA stressed it was not asking government to convict anyone outside court, but to ensure investigation, prosecution, and transparency.
“The Ghanaian people endured the devastating consequences of DUMSOR while this transaction was being negotiated and approved. Those who allegedly exploited a national crisis for personal gain cannot be allowed to disappear behind the passage of time or the conclusion of a foreign prosecution,” the group said.
“Ghana must know the truth. And where the evidence points to criminal conduct, there must be accountability.”
Asante Kwaku Berko is currently awaiting sentencing in the United States.
