Ernest Owusu-Bempah, a Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has pointed out that former President John Dramani Mahama is eager to reclaim the presidency without reflecting on his own track record while in power.
According to Owusu-Bempah, Mahama’s administration was characterized by corruption and mismanagement, leading to his historic defeat in the popular election.
He mentioned in a declaration while implicating Mr. Mahama in another instance of corruption involving a government official in the United States.
He indicated that this issue arose when a former Goldman Sachs executive, Asante Berko, was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Let’s all say no to corruption, and say no to Mahama.
Asante Berko’s indictment follows his involvement in orchestrating bribes to Ghanaian officials during his tenure at the investment bank, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., leading to his extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States.
This legal action against Berko occurs three years subsequent to his resolution of a related civil lawsuit with U.S. securities regulators.
Berko faced allegations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a 2020 lawsuit for orchestrating $4.5 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials.
The purpose of these bribes was reportedly to assist a Turkish energy company in securing a power plant contract in Ghana. According to the SEC, Berko handed over a minimum of $66,000 to members of Ghana’s parliament.
Here are some excerpts from the court documents in the United States. For instance, in April 2015, bribes were given to five Ghanaian officials during a fully paid trip to Turkey to inspect equipment for the power plant.
Each official received $5,000 during the trip. Following the approval of the power plant agreement by the Ghanaian parliament in July 2015, Berko and his accomplices exchanged detailed emails concerning their bribe payments.
In August 2015, they discussed $250,000 in bribe payments made to various individuals, which included $20,000 for the “MoP Girls” from the Ghanaian Ministry of Power, who were considered crucial for communication and information gathering by one of the co-conspirators. The emails also outlined the thousands of dollars in bribes that Berko personally paid and was still owed.
The payments for the bribery scheme were funneled through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, some of which were under Berko’s name.
At this juncture, the question that remains to be answered is, can Mahama pass the probity and Accountability test?
“This is the man who the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu had concluded that he is the beneficiary architect of the stinking Airbus deal, of which official UK government records refer him as Government Official One.
