Okudzeto told me bribery allegation was concocted - Osei Owusu
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency in the Volta region, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is said to have explained that the bribery allegation against the Appointments Committee of Parliament was in retaliation for corruption allegations leveled against former President John Mahama by Mr Boakye Agyarko.
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Appearing before the ad-hoc Parliamentary bribery investigative committee on Wednesday, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker said Mr Ablakwa told him and some members of the Committee that “they were spreading the corruption allegation” because the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko had labeled former President John Mahama as corrupt.
He told the panel that when the news of the bribery allegation broke, he, together with some members from both sides of the Appointments Committee were in a meeting at the Speaker’s office to discuss and take a decision on whether or not to pass the nominees by consensus or by majority.
Mr Ayariga, who was in the Speaker’s room at the time the news broke, was attributed to have made the allegation on Accra-based Radio Gold.
Those present in the room, according to Mr Osei-Owusu were Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, Sampson Ahi, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Joseph Yileh Chireh and Eric Opoku.
According to Mr Osei-Owusu, when a consensus was reached for the nominees to be passed by Parliament, he asked that the matter of bribery allegation be discussed but “all the minority members said oh, Mr Speaker take your time, cool down, cool down and I said how can I cool down… [when] the person who made the allegation is here.”
He stated however that, “it was at that point that honourable Okudzeto Ablakwa said that because Agyarko said our president was corrupt, we were spreading the corruption allegation. So then the mood in the room changed. We all laughed to it and said oh so this was all there was to it. I then dropped my insistence.”
According to Mr Osei-Owusu, in his report on the floor of Parliament, he included in the statement that the accusation, according to the minority, was in retaliation for the corruption allegations against the former president.
“All the people who were in the meeting were in that room that evening. If that were not so, I would have thought that somebody would object to what I was saying on the floor of the House. That will be borne out by the Hansard,” he said.
According to Mr Osei-Owusu, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa upheld his earlier statement when the MP for Adansi Asokwa, K. T. Hammond sought to verify his submission on the floor of Parliament from the North Tongu MP.
“That same evening when we were leaving Parliament, Honourable K. T. Hammond walked up to me to verify what I said on the floor and fortunately Okudzeto walked to us and K. T. Hammond asked him and he said “yes, we wanted you to feel the same heat that John Mahama is feeling.”
“This was on the corridor walking up to our offices and Okudzeto said this in a response to a question put up by K. T. Hammond,” he said.
Mr Osei-Owusu noted therefore that he was surprised to have heard on radio the following day that Mr Ayariga was still standing by his earlier comments made on Radio Gold.
“After that we expected that the matter would die because Parliament rose that evening after 7…on the way to Koforidua I received report that Ayariga had taken to social media to say that the allegation he made was true,” he said.
Background
Parliament formed the committee following allegations by the MP for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga that the Energy Minister, Mr Boakye Agyarko attempted bribing Minority members on the Appointments Committee with Gh¢3,000 each with the aim to influence his approval as Minister.
Mr Ayariga further claimed that the money was handed to the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka by the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Mr Joseph Osei Owusu for onward disbursement, a claim both have denied.
Mr Ayariga together with two of his colleagues, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Mr Alhassan Suhuyini subsequently petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to investigate the claims.
The ad-hoc committee is chaired by the MP for Essikado-Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey who is also a Minister in charge of Railways Development.
The four other members are Mr Ben Abdallah, Mrs Abena Durowaa Mensah, Mr Magnus Kofi Amoateng and Mr Benson Tongo Baba.
The terms of reference of the committee is to establish whether the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei Owusu took money from the Energy Minister, Mr Boakye Agyarko and gave it to the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka to the distributed to Members of the Appointments Committee.
It is also to establish whether there was an attempt to bribe Members of the Appointments Committee and to look into the merits of the complaints and assertions made by the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei Owusu about the matter.