Group files RTI request seeking names of implicated officials, other evidence in Berko-AKSA bribery case from OSP
Pressure group People’s Alliance for Governance and Accountability (PAGA) has filed a Right to Information (RTI) request seeking details of the findings and evidence gathered by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in the bribery case involving former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director Asante Kwaku Berko and other unamed Ghanaian officials.
A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Berko on Thursday, August 6, over a scheme involving the payment of more than US$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 renewed public interest in the case, particularly the Ghanaian officials allegedly implicated in the scheme.
The OSP, in a statement issued on Monday, August 10, disclosed that it had provided evidentiary assistance to US authorities during investigations into the case.
In its RTI request dated August 10 and received by the OSP on August 11, PAGA is therefore seeking access to records detailing the assistance provided by the Ghanaian anti-corruption body.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we are seeking access to the records themselves and not merely summaries or descriptions of their contents,” PAGA stated.
The group is asking the OSP to provide investigative reports, findings, memoranda, briefs, dossiers and other substantive documents prepared by or on behalf of the office and transmitted to US authorities in connection with the Berko and AKSA Enerji matter.
It is also seeking copies of documents sent to the US Department of Justice, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other relevant US law enforcement or regulatory agencies.
PAGA further wants covering letters, emails, memoranda and other correspondence used to transmit the information, as well as annexures, schedules, exhibits and attachments accompanying the documents.
The group is also requesting records of formal requests for information, evidence or assistance received from US authorities and the substantive responses provided by the OSP.
It wants the OSP to disclose any records showing when information was transmitted, the US agency that received it, the description of the documents and the number of pages or attachments involved.
PAGA has specifically requested any reports or written records containing findings reached by the OSP concerning Ghanaian public officials, former public officials, Members of Parliament, intermediaries or other persons arising from the Berko/AKSA investigation.
The request also names Kwabena Donkor, the Ministry of Power, AKSA, AKSA Enerji and the Emergency Power Agreement among the terms for which the group wants correspondence and other records exchanged between the OSP and US authorities.