The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Honourable Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has directed the transmission of Parliament’s completed administrative review into the approval of the Aksa Emergency Power Agreement to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and other relevant investigative bodies.
The directive, announced in Parliament, also requires the Clerk to Parliament to preserve all records and correspondence relating to the 2015 agreement and “make them available to competent authorities to support investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption.”
“I was deeply disturbed when these allegations came to my attention. They are extremely serious and that the review is therefore not the final word on this matter.”
Rt. Honourable Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin
Consequently, he directed that the completed report, together with its supporting documentation, be formally transmitted to the OSP and any other relevant investigative institution.
Rt. Honourable Bagbin explained that the institution should not become an impediment to lawful investigations, particularly when allegations implicate its own processes and potentially compromise public confidence.
The Speaker’s directive comes against the backdrop of allegations arising from proceedings in the United States involving Mr Asante Kwaku berko, a former Goldman Sachs executive. Those proceedings concerned alleged bribery and corruption connected to the development and financing of a power generation project in Ghana by Turkish energy company Aksa Energy Uretim A.S.
Of particular significance to Parliament was the allegation that approximately US$46,000 was paid to persons associated with the legislature to facilitate approval of the emergency power agreement between the Government of Ghana and Aksa.
He therefore identified law enforcement agencies as the appropriate institutions to investigate whether the alleged transactions occurred and establish the identities of any recipients.
Rt. Honourable Bagbin characterised Parliament’s decision to cooperate with investigators as “an institutional obligation” insisting that the legislature must uphold the standards it expects of other public institutions. He affirmed that an institution responsible for holding others accountable must itself demonstrate transparency, integrity and accountability.
Speaker Clarifies Limits Of Parliament’s Aksa Agreement Review
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Honourable Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin also clarified the scope and findings of the internal administrative review into Parliament’s approval of the Aksa Emergency Power Agreement, cautioning that its conclusions do not establish whether alleged bribes were paid.
Although the examination of parliamentary records and interviews produced no evidence that a legislator or parliamentary service officer received the alleged payments, the Speaker emphasised that the findings was“neither to determine anyone’s guilt nor absolve any individual who may have been involved.”
In his address to Parliament, Rt. Honourable Bagbin explained that its purpose was to establish what transpired within Parliament during the consideration of the agreement, identify participants in the relevant proceedings and determine whether parliamentary records could assist the appropriate investigative authorities.
“I must be clear about the nature and authority of that review. It was commissioned by me in the exercise of my responsibilities as Speaker and as chairman of the Parliamentary Service Board for the administration of this house and the custody of the records. It was not and was never intended to be a criminal investigation.”
Rt. Honourable Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin
The Speaker clarified that the exercise did not possess the investigative powers available to parliamentary committees under Article 103(6) of the 1992 Constitution. It was conducted privately, reported directly to him and relied on “voluntary interviews, without access to bank records, financial transactions or communications” held outside Parliament.
Regarding the parliamentary process itself, the report established that the emergency power agreement was laid before the House on June 23, 2015, before being referred to the Committee on Mines and Energy. The committee presented its report on July 16, 2015, and Parliament adopted the resolution approving the agreement the following day, July 17.
The Speaker further emphasised that the investigations would not protect anyone found to be involved in or culpable for the AKSA Deal.
Mr Asante Kwaku Berko, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) was accused of orchestrating a bribery scheme involving more than US$1 million. The payments were allegedly made to Ghanaian officials between 2014 and 2015 to secure government approval for a power plant project involving Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji, a Goldman Sachs client. On 6 August 2026, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Berko guilty of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, bribery and money laundering.
