Rockson Bukari resigns after Shaanxi bribery exposé

Minister of State at the Office of the President, Rockson Bukari has resigned from his position, days after he was caught on a leaked tape attempting to bribe a journalist to ‘kill’ a story.

According to a statement from the presidency, Mr Bukari’s tendered in his resignation letter to President Akufo-Addo on Monday 29th April, 2019.

His decision to resign, according to the statement was “in order not to allow the tape to disrupt the focus on government in delivering on its mandate”.

Rockson Bukari was caught on tape trying to prevent the Starr FM Upper East region correspondent from publishing a damning story against a Chinese mining company when he was the Upper East regional minister.

Mr. Bukari tried bribing the journalist with GH¢5,000 cash in a brown envelope and a brand new motorbike to stop the story from going public.

The regional minister was reassigned to the presidency when the story first made waves in 2018, but after it resurfaced about a week ago, Mr Bukari who failed to convince Ghanaians that he was trying to make peace and not bribe the journalist has resigned.

The communique from the office of the president said Rockson Bukari “resigned as a matter of principle”.

Find the full statement below