The Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has called for the controversy surrounding the AKSA power deal and the recent conviction of former TOR MD and Goldman Sachs banker Asante Berko in the United States to be handled without partisan politics.
Speaking on the issue, Mr Amoah said the focus should instead be on examining the procurement processes and institutional failures that led to the agreement. He warned that turning the matter into an NPP-NDC political contest could undermine efforts to establish the facts and identify the individuals and institutions responsible.
“Let’s not decide to do NPP, NDC with this. The critical issues will be lost, and we will not be able to track and trace anything,” he said.
Mr Amoah said the AKSA controversy should serve as an opportunity for Ghana to review how it negotiates and approves international contracts, particularly major infrastructure and energy agreements.
His comments follow renewed scrutiny of the AKSA power agreement after the conviction of Asante Berko in the United States over a bribery scheme linked to the development and financing of the power plant in Ghana.
Mr Amoah cautioned against treating claims arising from Mr Berko’s US case as automatically conclusive, insisting that Ghanaian authorities must independently establish the facts surrounding the agreement.
He said investigations by institutions including the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the Attorney-General’s Office must be conducted without partisan considerations.
“Detach the politics. Go through the procurement processes that prevailed before that whole thing came up,” he said.
Mr Amoah stressed that the ultimate objective should not only be to determine whether Ghana lost money through the AKSA agreement, but also to identify and close systemic loopholes that could allow similar breaches to occur in future.
He warned that without reforms to Ghana’s procurement system and stronger parliamentary oversight, controversies similar to the AKSA deal could recur.
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