Pressure is mounting on the Speaker of Parliament to establish a bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the approval and ratification of the AKSA Emergency Power Agreement, amid allegations that Members of Parliament received payments connected to the deal.
The People’s Alliance for Governance and Accountability (PAGA) made the demand in a press statement responding to revelations from a concluded United States criminal prosecution in which evidence of payments to Ghanaian MPs was accepted.
PAGA wants the committee to determine whether the integrity of Parliament’s ratification process was compromised when the agreement was reviewed and approved in 2015 by the Mines and Energy Committee, on which 18 MPs served.
“The Speaker must establish a bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the approval and ratification of the AKSA power agreement, including allegations that Members of Parliament received payments or other benefits,” the statement demanded.
The group emphasized that the inquiry must cut across party lines. “This must not be a partisan inquiry,” it said, adding that the public deserves to know what information was put before Parliament at the time, who participated in the approval process, and whether any person used his or her public office to influence the approval.
PAGA also called for the committee’s proceedings to be televised live, so that Ghanaians can follow the inquiry in full view.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Vincent Kwofie