Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu challenges President Mahama on AKSA bribery probe
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has criticized President John Dramani Mahama regarding the government's response to the conviction of Asante K Berko, former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery TOR. Berko was found guilty in the United States of paying over $1 billion in bribes to Ghanaian officials in the AKSA power deal. Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, dismissed suggestions that state security would now investigate the scandal, stating that his Office of the Special Prosecutor began looking into the matter in 2020. He highlighted that Berko resigned from TOR in April 2020 following a US-SEC civil suit, but the Nana Akufo-Addo government did not refer him to the OSP for investigation, unlike in the Airbus SE-Ghana bribery scandal involving John Mahama. Amidu called on President Mahama to disclose what occurred during the OSP investigation under his tenure, asserting that suggesting a new investigation is an insult to Ghanaians. His remarks follow Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem Sai's disclosure that Attorney General Dominic Ayine is collaborating with US counterparts after Berko's conviction for conspiring to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and commit money laundering. US court documents indicate that Ghanaian officials and Members of Parliament allegedly received bribes to facilitate a Turkish energy company's power plant project during Ghana's 2014-2015 power crisis.
