Agyarko’s bribery scandal …Engineered By NPP to Deny Him Energy Ministry?

Embattled Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko may have to brace up for more torrid times as The aL-hAJJ can confirm of a well-designed plot by members of his own party to deny him his new post and turn round to blame it on parliament.

Some powerful figures who wanted President Akufo-Addo to appoint their favorite as Energy Minister, credible sources in government told this paper, plotted the widely-condemned parliament bribery scandal in order to deny Mr Agyarko, a native of Krobo in the Eastern region, the Energy Minister portfolio.

According to a source familiar with the plot; the NPP bigwigs behind the Get-Agyarko-Out agenda, including some senior members of parliament, are part of those who contrived the alleged act and later blew the lid on the alleged bribery to some Minority MPs on the Appointment Committee.

Sources in government have also disclosed to this paper that President Akufo-Addo himself seemed to have regretted appointing Mr. Agyarko as Energy Minister, and wants it corrected. The president, a source told this paper, is not oblivious of the conspiracy by the NPP kingpins to weed out his former Policy Advisor.

According to the source “Agyarko’s appointment was hurriedly done so when the “big” men alerted him of the danger in appointing him to such a sensitive sector, he realized his mistake. The President was thinking of how to remedy the situation…withdrawing Agyarko’s nomination for the preferred candidate, will provoke the anger of chiefs and people of Kroboland” the source stated.

The MPs on the majority side of the law making House neck-deep in the scheme are reported to have said that, the only means to deny Mr Agyarko (who many say excelled during his vetting) the Energy Minister portfolio for their preferred “candidate”; was to expose the Minister in a manner that will irk the Minority MPs on the committee to go to town.

The plot, this paper has gathered, was engineered in order to get Mr Agyarko, who though has now been approved and sworn-in, sacked from the Energy Ministry whiles blaming it on parliament rather than President Akufo Addo.

This has since been corroborated by MP for North Tongu and Member of the Appointment Committee, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who said NPP MPs, aided them in unraveling the alleged bribery scandal.

Hon Ablakwa, together with his colleague minority MP for Tamale North, Alhaji Alhasan Suhuyini, were first to confirm Hon Mahama Ayariga’s attempted bribery allegation by the Energy Minister through Chairman of the Appointment Committee, Hon Joe Osei Owusu and Minority Chief Whip, Hon Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak .

Short of naming NPP MPs who revealed to them the GHC3000 they each received from the minority chief whip was not their sitting allowance, Hon Ablakwa stated “I can tell you on authority that there were some NPP MPs who helped us blow the alarm, and gave us the hint about where the money is coming from.”

There are claims that Mr Agyarko allegedly bribed the MPs in order to be approved by parliament after sensing his approval was being opposed by the minority and some NPP stalwarts and MPs on the majority side. Mr Agyarko, according to people familiar with the saga, feared some of his own party people were clandestinely working with the minority to reject him since he was finding it difficult to get proof for some of the statements he made during his vetting.

Following the bribery allegation and setting up of a five member committee by Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, to investigate the allegations, there have been calls on President Akufo-Addo to ask Mr Agyarko to step aside.

Though the president has so far maintained deafening silence on the bribery allegation, sources in government have told this paper that; some discordant voices both in the majority side of parliament and in the NPP are prevailing on President Akufo-Addo to show Mr Agyarko the exit.

These discordant voices are reported to have watered down the outcome of the Joe Ghartey-led committee even before it starts work, claiming it will not unravel the truth surrounding the issue.

Meanwhile, acting General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu has hinted President Akufo-Addo will not hesitate to sack the Minister if turns out that he indeed bribed the minority MPs.

“If there is evidence to prove the allegation against Mr Agyarko, Nana Addo will not hesitate to sack him, he is capable of doing that. We should be very careful,” Mr John Boadu stated.

As part of a wider conspiracy to discredit Agyarko in the eyes of the public and whip public support to pile pressure on the president to fire him, some leading members of the NPP are calling for live telecast of proceedings of the Joe Ghartey-led committee.

Commenting on the matter on Multi TV’s Newsfile on Saturday February 4, Mr Akomea, a former MP, said “The issue involves parliament itself and senior members of parliament. Parliament itself is investigating the matter and so the public interest will be served if the proceedings are done in public – that is, televised.

“I will wish that parliament itself will insist [on that] because of the problem of conflict of interest. It is not an external body that is investigating parliament; it is an internal parliamentary body investigating the conduct of Members of Parliament. So, to improve credibility and the public accountability, they should have these proceedings televised.”

In a related development, Assin Central MP, Hon Kennedy Agyapong has also kicked against parliament’s decision to investigate the scandal, insisting an independent body outside parliament could have done better and its findings believed by Ghanaians.

“This time around an independent body should investigate Parliament; we shouldn’t leave this matter with the Speaker to settle. Once Parliament is investigating itself, we might not get the full brief; an independent body like CHRAJ must come in and do the investigations. We’ve had enough allegations of bribery about Parliament, let’s have another body go into the matter and bring finality to the issue.”

He added: “The Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Hon. Joe Ghartey himself is a ministerial nominee who will also later appear before the same Appointment Committee which has been accused of bribery to be vetted so I have a problem with his choice.”

Wondering why Mr Agyarko has been singled out of the nominees who have been vetted to have offered bribe, Hon Agyapong implored parliament to handover the investigation to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice since most issues in parliament are swept under the carpet.

Meanwhile, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong has dispelled claims that he is the one who offered the alleged bribe to members of the committee in his Rolls Royce. “My name seems to pop up in every issue in this country; I don’t understand why people want to drag my name into this bribery brouhaha. I am not a member of the Appointments Committee, what interest do I have in this to give out bribe. Anyone with information claiming that I have offered bribe inside my Rolls Royce car should come out with that information. If Okudzeto, Ayariga and Suhuyini have evidence that they should come out, they should name and shame. The problem I have with the media is you always rely on social media for information, you will always get it wrong if you go that way,” he fumed.