Manasseh clears air on alleged government WhatsApp group claim by OSP's Sammy Darko

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has clarified claims made by the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) Director of Strategy, Research, and Communication, Sammy Appiah Darko, regarding a government WhatsApp group.

This follows Darko’s claim on JoyNews Newsfile on Saturday, December 6, 2025, that he had an encounter with Manasseh about an issue on a group they both belong to, which he described as a government WhatsApp group.

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“I've had an encounter with Manasseh over this. There is a government WhatsApp group that we are on and he brings this issue up. In fact, as he said, he's had the opportunity to see first-hand, some of the work that we have done,” Darko claimed.

He added, “The point I'm making is that it is created by the government because we are charting a new path on our anti-corruption policy.”

In response, however, Manasseh, in a post on December 6, 2025, stated that there is no group created or influenced by the government that he belongs to, contrary to Darko’s claim.

He explained that there is a group with institutional representation from all the anti-corruption agencies in the country, CSOs, and others, formed for the purpose of developing a five-year National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NEACAP) to replace the expired 10-year NACAP.

According to him, the group, which is the NEACAP Working Group, was publicised during its inauguration, and its activities and work are publicly known in the media, refuting assertions that it might be controlled by the government.

That group, Manasseh said, has a WhatsApp group of which Sammy Darko is a member, representing the OSP.

“There is a working group that is developing a five-year National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NEACAP) to replace the expired 10-year NACAP. The working group has institutional representation from all the state anti-corruption agencies, representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, GIZ, the judiciary, the A-G, civil society groups, the police, FIC, youth representation, development partners of Ghana, and individuals who have contributed to the fight against corruption.

“I am a member of the NEACAP Working Group on account of my work in the fight against corruption. Sammy Darko is a representative of the OSP in that group. The NEACAP working group was publicly inaugurated and covered by the media. The group's activities and regional consultations have been widely reported in the media. (A Google search will produce tons of stories about the NEACAP Working Group.) The Group has a WhatsApp platform that coordinates its activities,” Manasseh stated.

The journalist went ahead to question how this group could be classified or described as a government group, a remark that appears to have sparked reactions from a section of the public.

“I don't know how this is a "government WhatsApp group" as claimed by Sammy Darko, and suggested by others to mean the government's capture of critical voices. The host of Newsfile, “Samson Anyenini, perhaps anticipated this twist; that's why he attempted to correct Sammy Darko when he called it a government WhatsApp Group,” he indicated.

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Manasseh insisted that the group does not belong to the government in any way, adding that the group referred to by Darko was the NEACAP Working Group.

“The government has not constituted a WhatsApp group for any clandestine or discreet activities that I know of or belong to. The Group Sammy Darko referenced is the publicly inaugurated NEACAP Working Group, as I have stated above. These are the facts,” he concluded.

MAG/EB

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