Let's not make former TOR MD bribery case NDC-NPP issue — Vicky Bright
Legal practitioner and social commentator Vicky Bright has urged Ghanaians to avoid politicising the bribery case involving former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director Asante Kwaku Berko.
She said the focus should instead be on following the evidence and money trail to establish the identities of any Ghanaian officials who may have been involved in the scheme.
A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Berko on August 6, 2026, over a scheme involving the payment of more than $1 million in bribes to multiple Ghanaian officials in connection with the development and financing of a power plant in Ghana.
The conviction has generated public interest and renewed calls for investigations into the Ghanaian officials allegedly implicated in the case.
Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, August 10, Vicky Bright said investigators must avoid prejudging individuals based solely on the positions they held at the time of the alleged bribery scheme.
“We shouldn't turn it into an NDC-NPP matter. You know, let's follow the evidence. Let's follow the companies that were involved, and above all, let's follow the money. Because if you follow the money, you can't go wrong,” she said.
The Office of the Attorney General has announced plans to collaborate with US authorities as part of efforts to investigate and potentially prosecute Ghanaian officials implicated in the case.
Vicky Bright welcomed the announcement but said the success of the process would ultimately depend on whether Ghana could conduct an independent investigation and establish admissible evidence against those found culpable.
She said political affiliation should not determine whether a person implicated in the case is prosecuted.
“If the evidence establishes that public officials received money in return for influencing various members of the executive or Parliament to make this happen, then they must be prosecuted, irrespective of their political affiliation,” she said.