Ahwoi And The Spies Bust-Up

MR. KWAMENA AHWOI, one-time Minister of various portfolios under the NDC administration has accepted the challenge to testify at the NRC on the controversial exchange of eight alleged Ghanaian CIA agents for ex-Ghanaian spy, Mr Michael Agbotui Soussoudis.

But Mr. Ahwoi says he would not accept any offer for an in-camera hearing as has been suggested by the Executive Secretary of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) Dr Ken Attafuah.

Instead, “I’d demand a full public hearing and would not accept an in-camera sitting”, he said, adding that he deserved the same previlege accorded his accuser, Major (Rtd) John Kwaku Awuakye, to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. He did not hide his intention not to appear before the NRC if it denies him this right.

Speaking last night to the Gye Nyame Concord after the deadline to the US Embassy to confirm whether the US Government wanted him to appear before the NRC as had been suggested by one of its officials, expired, Mr. Ahwoi said he would now take up the challenge to testify before the NRC.

Ahwoi, who said he had not heard from the Embassy as of last night, said he would write to the NRC this morning to request for his side of the story to be heard and to clear himself of the allegations leveled against him by Major Awuakye.

Major Awuakye is one of eight Ghanaians, including, Mr. Abel Edusei, current CEO of the Ghana National Procurement Agency (GNPA) exchanged for Soussoudis, the flamboyant cousin of ex-president Rawlings, who seduced Ms Sharon M. Scranage, a homely operations support assistant for the CIA stationed in Ghana to turn over classified information, including the identities of CIA agents and informants, to the then PNDC regime.

The murky details of the information of the CIA-agents bust-up is still classified in the US and is noted by most intelligence analysts, Intel websites and Intel books as one of the significant failings of the revered Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US. It is also cited on major websites on the Intel industry and is captured in several books on espionage.

Mr. Ahwoi, who had earlier asked the NRC to seek clearance from the United States Government if it wanted the truth behind the spies swap established, wrote to the US Embassy last week after Mr. David Queen, Head of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy suggested that he could be lying on the issue.

Queen told Peace FM’s Kwame Sefa Kayi Wednesday that he was unaware of any agreement on the spies swap, adding that Mr. Ahwoi as a Ghanaian could not be prevented by the US Government from appearing before the NRC. Queen’s explanation came after he was reached to comment on an originally un-sourced story on the issue in The Daily Dispatch that same day. Though Mr. Ahwoi would not provide details of what he intended to tell the NRC apart from confirming his intent, close aides say he would open a can of worms that could be extremely embarrassing not only to the eight alleged spies but to US-Ghana security relation.

In his evidence before the NRC, Major Awuakye claimed he was de-nationalised together with the seven other Ghanaians who were exchanged; an allegation Ahwoi has denied. (Concord is following tips on this issue and would bring you more details on this Monday). Major Awuakye also denies being a CIA agent.

At the time of the swap in December 1985, Mr. Ahwoi was Chairman of the Citizens Vetting Committee (CVCC) under the PNDC regime.

Meantime, independent web-investigations and accessing of major Intel websites have confirmed the fact that the scandal is of significant importance to experts on CIA espionage affairs.

Despite being classified, the scandal is alluded to in the 358-page book, “Inside the CIA”, published by Pocket Books of New York by Mr. Ronald Kessler, the first outsider to be allowed a tour of the CIA headquarters, and granted interviews with present and former CIA officials.

Kessler, who dealt with each of the CIA’s four directorates (operations, science and technology, intelligence, administration) as well as the Office of the Director in five separate sections of the book, blends it with a bit of historical context, including the dirty laundry on Ghana’s infamous Spy story.

Wendell L. Minnick, another American also captures the story in his 310-page book “Spies and Provocateurs: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Persons Conducting Espionage and Covert Action, 1946-1991” published in1992.

The book, which is a sequel to similar books like “Who’s Who in Espionage” by Ronald Payne and Christopher Dobson, focuses on spies who were caught in the struggle between nations.

Another major Intel book that captures the scandal is the 248-page Nigel West’s “Games of Intelligence: The Classified Conflict of International Espionage Revealed”, published 13 years ago.

Nigel West, also known as Rupert Allason, is a British writer specializing in intelligence and security issues. He is a son of a former Tory MP and once ran for parliament himself as a Thatcher Conservative in 1986.”

The Washington Post in 1985 also captured the scandal in various editions. In one of its editions, it wrote: “1985 - SHARON M. SCRANAGE, operations support assistant for the CIA stationed in Ghana and her Ghanaian boyfriend, MICHAEL SOUSSOUDIS, were charged on 11 July with turning over classified information, including the identities of CIA agents and informants, to Ghanaian intelligence officials. It is reported that a routine polygraph test given to Scranage on her return to the US aroused CIA suspicions. Following an internal investigation, Scranage agreed to cooperate with the FBI in order to arrest Soussoudis, a business consultant and permanent resident of the United States. According to one report, damaging information on CIA intelligence collection activities is likely to have been passed on by pro-Marxist Kojo Tsikata, head of Ghanaian intelligence, to Cuba, Libya, East Germany and other Soviet Bloc nations.

Indicted on 18 counts of providing classified information to a foreign country, Scranage subsequently pleaded guilty to one count under the espionage code and two counts of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Fifteen remaining charges were dropped. On 26 November Scranage was sentenced to five years in prison. (This was later reduced to two years.) At the same time Soussoudis who had been charged with eight counts of espionage pleaded nolo contendere and was sentenced to 20 years. His sentence was suspended on the condition that he leave the United States within 24 hours.”

Several other publications appeared in the Washington Post, on the issues including one on July 12, 1985, (“CIA Aide, Ghanaian Face Spy Counts”), and July 14, 1985, (“Routine Polygraph Opened Ghanaian Espionage Probe”)

Another story, “FBI Says Spying Occurred After CIA Order on Ghanaian” appeared in the Washington Post of July 20, 1985.