The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), in its Half Yearly Statutory Report ending 31 December 2022, announced that it has commenced investigation into allegations of an attempt by an unnamed and wealthy businessman to bribe some Members of the majority caucus of Parliament to rescind their demand for the dismissal of the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The OSP said it has triggered a liaison with the office of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin in this regard.
It is recalled that the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu alleged that an unnamed, wealthy businessman had attempted to bribe the New Patriotic Party lawmakers who were demanding dismissal of the Finance Minister, to change their mind.
Later, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told journalists that “What I can say of it [the allegations] as of now is that, we don’t know the motive. Not knowing what the motive is, sometimes these things come up, so we will have to establish that.”
He cited the example of a minister nominee who was accused of offering bribes to the Appointments Committee to facilitate his approval as a reason for his reluctance to pronounce judgement.
“You remember the issue of a minister who was nominated to appear before the Vetting Committee, there were allegations that he attempted to bribe some people or influence some people, eventually, it turned out to be untrue.
“Even though this one has come before me, not having gone into it, I don’t want to make any pronouncements on it. Let’s see if indeed it is true and that is not an insult to the intelligence of those people who spoke to it.”
