Moses Asaga
A former Member of Parliament for Nabdam in the Upper East Region, who was an appointee of former President John Mahama, Moses Asaga, has justified that owning a property in Dubai worth $133, 000 Investment is a Chicken Change for him.
According to him, his 30-year career, which includes significant roles at Ecobank, GNPC, and as a Deputy Minister of Finance and Minister for Employment, more than justifies his ability to invest $133,000 in such properties.
His reaction follows a report by the UK-based think tank, the Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which implicated several former appointees of the Mahama administration, including Asaga, Inusah Fuseini, and others.
It has not been established that the people mentioned in the report acquired the said properties with stolen funds.
The OCCRP report titled “How Dirty Money Finds a Home in Dubai Real Estate,” published on May 14, 2024, suggested that these individuals had amassed real estate in Dubai worth millions of dollars during their tenure in power.
The report also highlighted Dubai’s reputation for financial secrecy, suggesting it has become a sanctuary for funds from questionable sources.
The individuals, including former ministers of state and a former Supreme Court judge, are linked to apartments in Dubai worth millions of dollars.
The individuals mentioned in the report are Moses Asaga, a former minister of state and former Member of Parliament for Nabdam, Inusah Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and former minister of state, Justice Anthony Benin, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and Dr Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, a former finance director of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
Moses Asaga who was also once the CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is linked to one property costing $133,100.
Reacting to the story on Citi FM said the narrative of wrongdoing by comparing property prices in Ghana, where new apartments are sold for upwards of $200,000, and luxury residences in Trassaco which can fetch between $1 million and $5 million is untenable.
He explained “I thought I had done something criminal and corrupt worth investigating. $133, 000, shouldn’t I be able to own such an investment? What are the prices of Trasaco properties $1m- $3m who are staying there? Is it not politicians and majority NPP functionaries? Has the OCCRP gone to put a story on them? This is a political machination.
He further justified that “So, they think for my 30-year working life I should not have an investment of that paltry amount. Before politics, I worked with Ecobank, and GNPC and was Deputy Minister of Finance, Minister for Employment, and CEO of NPA. I could not afford an investment of $133,000 for a student one-bedroom apartment. What is the crime and corruption involved in this?
He added “In Ghana, new apartments are being sold for $200,000 plus, and Trasaco is $1m–$5m. Who stays in them is [it] not bankers, CEOs of GNPC, COCOBOD, BOST, and politicians’’.
The OCCRP, which worked on the investigation with reporters from across the world, uncovered in the leaked property data, dozens of other convicted criminals, fugitives, and sanctioned individuals who have owned at least one piece of real estate in Dubai.
There are also political figures and their associates, including those accused of corruption or who have kept their properties hidden from the public.
The OCCRP said the leaked records, which date largely from 2022 and 2020, were initially obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that researches international crime and conflict.
The data was then shared with the Norwegian financial outlet E24 and OCCRP, who coordinated an investigative project with more than 70 media outlets around the globe.
-BY Daniel Bampoe