OSP whitewashing Bawumia ahead of NPP polls - Akowuah

Charles Akowuah, the Bono Regional Communications Officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has expressed concerns over the speed at which the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is handling investigations related to a Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and the Vice President's acceptance of ''appearance fees''.

Akowuah believes the OSP is rushing to clear the Vice President of any wrongdoing before the governing New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential primary scheduled for November 4, 2023.

Akowuah voiced his concerns during a panel discussion on The Citizen Show hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra 100.5 FM on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

He further said the OSP's actions are aimed at preventing allegations of corruption from being used against the Vice President in the upcoming elections.

He said the OSP's actions are a departure from its mandate to investigate corruption and corruption-related cases in the country.

Mr Akowuah called on all well-meaning Ghanaians to resist attempts by the OSP to clear high-profile individuals entangled in corruption cases.

He expressed concerns about the direction the OSP is taking in its investigations, alleging that it is working diligently to exonerate the Vice President from any involvement in the case of a staff member from his office engaged in the smuggling of rice from the Tema Port.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has said the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia knew nothing about the US$200,000 'appearance fee' charged an alleged Sheikh on his behalf by then-Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Charles Adu Boahen, a report by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has said.

Mr Adu Baohen, who was subsequently fired by President Nana Akufo-Addo after being captured on video receiving a US$40,000 gift from the alleged businessman and demanding the US$200,000 'appearance fee' on behalf of Dr Bawumia, was, however, cleared by the OSP as not having engaged in anything criminal.

The undercover piece was done by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and aired last year.

“In the high political office he occupied, it ought reasonably to have occurred to Mr Adu Boahen that his bargain for twenty percent (20%) of the value of the proposed investment and his receipt of a cash gift of Forty Thousand United States dollars (US$40,000.00) from the supposed sheikh was outrightly improper," the OSP's report said.

It noted that Mr. Adu Boahen "exhibited a lack of sound judgment. His claim that he accepted the cash gift to avoid offending the supposed sheikh lies very thinly; and his suggestion of the payment of an appearance fee of Two Hundred Thousand United States dollars (US$200,000.00) to the Vice President was quite reckless – especially as the Vice President was unaware of the business he was conducting and had not tasked him to demand money of whatever description.”

"Mr. Adu Boahen’s principal motivation was his own personal gain though he intimated to the supposed sheikh that he was driven by the potential developmental benefits to Ghana of the proposed investment," the report added.