Some members of the then Parliamentary Energy Committee who were implicated in the scandal
Parliament has found no evidence that former Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir Hammond, popularly known as KT Hammond, or any other MP received the alleged US$46,000 bribe to facilitate the approval of the 2015 AKSA Emergency Power Agreement.
The finding was announced by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin following an internal administrative review commissioned to establish whether any Member of Parliament or Parliamentary Service officer received payments in connection with the approval of the agreement.
The allegations emerged in August 2026 following proceedings in the United States involving Asante Kweku Berko, a former Goldman Sachs executive and former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), over alleged bribery and corruption linked to a power generation project developed by Turkish energy company AKSA in Ghana.
According to a US State Department statement, members of Parliament's Energy Committee were allegedly paid US$46,000 to facilitate the approval of the agreement.
KT Hammond, who was the Ranking Member of the Energy Committee at the time, was among those whose names became associated with the allegations.
Bagbin said the review was commissioned in his capacity as Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Service Board to establish what transpired during the consideration and approval of the agreement, identify those who participated in the process and determine what relevant information Parliament could provide to investigators.
The exercise examined Parliament's Votes and Proceedings, official reports, committee records, the report of the Committee on Mines and Energy and the House resolution approving the agreement. It also involved interviews with former and serving Parliamentary Service officers and a former chairperson of the Committee on Mines and Energy.
According to the Speaker, none of the records examined or interviews conducted established that an MP or Parliamentary Service officer received the alleged payments.
OSP names persons of interest involved in AKSA bribery scandal
He, however, cautioned that the findings should not be interpreted as proof that no payments were made or as an exoneration of anyone who may have received them.
Bagbin explained that the review was strictly an internal administrative exercise and did not have the powers to summon witnesses, take evidence under oath or compel the production of documents. It also had no access to bank records, financial transactions or communications held outside Parliament.
He stressed that the exercise was not a criminal investigation and could not determine the guilt or innocence of any individual, adding that only competent law enforcement agencies could investigate external financial transactions and other evidence relating to the allegations.
The Speaker has consequently directed that the review report, together with its supporting documents, be formally transmitted to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and other relevant investigative bodies for further action.
Background to the AKSA bribery allegations
The allegations against the Ghanaian officials emerged from proceedings in the United States involving Asante Kweku Berko, a former Goldman Sachs executive and former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery.
A US State Department statement announcing Berko's conviction indicated that he and his associates were involved in paying more than US$1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials between 2015 and 2016 in connection with the development and financing of the AKSA power project.
The proceedings also indicated that US$46,000 was allegedly paid to members of Ghana's Parliament to facilitate the approval of the agreement.
KT Hammond, who was the Ranking Member of Parliament's Energy Committee at the time, rejected the allegations when he spoke to Citi News on August 10, 2026.
He questioned how the alleged US$46,000 could have been shared among the 18 MPs on the committee and its secretariat staff, suggesting that the amount would translate into relatively small sums for each person.
"Is KT Hammond that bloody cheap?" he asked, dismissing the suggestion that he and other committee members could have been induced with the alleged payments.
Parliament's records indicate that the AKSA Emergency Power Agreement was laid before the House on June 23, 2015, and referred to the Committee on Mines and Energy for consideration.
The committee presented its report on July 16, 2015, before Parliament debated and approved the agreement on July 17, 2015.
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