CID probes 3 govt appointees over bribery allegations

The Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service (CID) has begun investigations into corruption allegations levelled against three appointees of the President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration.

They are the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, and the two Deputy Chiefs of Staff at the Presidency, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye and Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor.

The investigations followed allegations of corruption made against Mrs Owusu Ekuful by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, Mr Kennedy Agyepong.

Other allegations of corruption were also made against the two deputy Chiefs of Staff by Mr Agyepong and Hip Life musician, Mr Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus.

Allegations against Mrs Owusu Ekuful are in relation to the National Identification Authority (NIA), under the Ministry of Communications, which, according to Mr Agyepong, had disregarded his bid for a contract to print NIA cards in favour of more expensive bidders.

The investigations followed a directive by President Akufo-Addo to the security agencies to investigate any allegations of corruption against his appointees.

Documents

The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, confirmed to the Daily Graphic that Mr Agyapong had already submitted documents to back his allegations to the CID.

“Mr Agyepong submitted his documents to the CID last Friday. I cannot tell whether the documents concerned are only in relation to the allegation levelled against the Minister of Communications or any other allegation,’’ he said.

A Plus, he said, was yet to respond to an invitation by the CID to substantiate his claims against the two deputy chiefs of staff, but had promised to honour it soon.

The President is said to have sanctioned investigations into corruption allegations made against the two.

According to Mr Arhin, the complainants had been contacted to provide evidence of their corruption allegations against Mr Asenso-Boakye and Mr Abu Jinapor.

“I know for a fact that as of last Tuesday, the CID made contact with A Plus and Kennedy Agyepong with regard to the allegations they made against the two deputy chiefs of staff," he told the Daily Graphic.

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Commitment to fight corruption

At the annual national delegates congress of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Cape Coast last Saturday, President Akufo-Addo said he had instructed the security agencies to investigate any member of his government against whom allegations of corruption were made.

He reassured the people of Ghana that every allegation about corruption against any official or member of his government would be investigated by the law enforcement agencies.

He added that those who made allegations against government officials should also be prepared to provide the necessary evidence because nobody was going to get away with making allegations without providing proof.

“I am not going to preside over a government that would knowingly support corruption in the country,” he said, adding “if I do not know about it, I cannot do anything about it’’.

Mr Arhin said the President stood by his words and would always allow due process to be followed in any situation involving allegations of corruption.

Allegations

A Plus, in a Facebook post, accused the two deputy chiefs of Staff at the Presidency, Mr Asenso-Boakye and Mr Jinapor of being corrupt.

Mr Agyepong, in response to A Plus’ comments called for the immediate investigation of the two deputy chiefs of Staff, and added that he believed other appointees of President Akufo-Addo were also corrupt.

“Abu Jinapor and Asenso-Boakye are not the only two alleged to be involved in corrupt activities at the Presidency, there are many others as well.  I started complaining about the President being surrounded by sycophants and corrupt people, I had people calling me to stop making those allegations,” the MP said on an Accra-based radio station.