AKSA Energy case: Ghana has evidence to trigger own accountability process – Osae-Kwapong

John Osae-Kwapong, Democracy and Development Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), asserts that Ghanaian law enforcement agencies hold the necessary evidence to initiate domestic investigations into the AKSA Energy-related bribery allegations. This stems from the joint efforts between Ghanaian institutions, such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and US authorities in the investigation of a bribery scheme linked to a power plant deal in Ghana.

Osae-Kwapong emphasizes that Ghanaian law enforcement agencies possess the capability to investigate intricate corruption cases and collect evidence sufficient to hold individuals accountable for alleged criminal activities. However, he raises the question of what Ghana intends to do with the information they have gathered in collaboration with the US authorities.

Osae-Kwapong points out that the disclosures by the OSP indicate that Ghana might already have preliminary information that could be utilized to initiate its own accountability processes. He suggests that Ghana should not solely depend on the outcome of the US proceedings but should leverage the information obtained through collaboration to investigate if Ghanaian individuals or institutions might have been implicated in wrongdoing.

This perspective follows the US conviction of Asante Kwaku Berko, former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director, in the high-profile international bribery case. The OSP disclosed on August 10 that it had provided investigative and evidentiary material to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the mutual legal assistance framework.