Charles Adu Boahen
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has closed its investigation into corruption and corruption-related offences allegations levelled against Charles Adu Boahen, a former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his ‘Galamsey Economy’ documentary.
The OSP, in 14-page report, said the allegations against Mr. Adu Boahen, at best constitute influence peddling, which is not a crime per se in Ghana, and did not fall under the mandate of the Office to take any further actions against him.
The ‘Galamsey Economy’ documentary had alleged that Mr. Adu Boahen in a meeting with undercover agents posing as businessmen who were interested in investing in Ghana, demanded 20% of the value of the proposed initial investment or 10% upfront payment of the value of the proposed initial investment and post investment sharing of the proceeds of the investment.
It also alleged that Mr. Adu Boahen offered to introduce the undercover agents to the President and the Vice President in aid of establishing them as very influential persons in Ghana.
The documentary further alleged that Mr. Adu Boahen demanded $200,000 to be given to the Vice President for the purposes of facilitating a meeting to be set up by Mr. Adu Boahen between the Vice President and the undercover agents.
The supposed sheikh, according to the documentary, offered Mr. Adu Boahen $40,000 in cash as shopping money.
Appointment Termination
President Akufo-Addo terminated the appointment of Charles Adu Boahen in November last year after excerpts of the documentary were made public.
The President then referred the allegation to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for further investigations into the incident which created public uproar.
Anas through his Tiger Eye P.I. firm also petitioned the OSP to investigate Mr. Adu Boahen for corruption and corruption-related offences arising from the investigative documentary and an audio-visual recording contained on a flash drive together with a transcript of the audio-visual recording to the complaint.
The OSP, after six months of investigating the matter, released a heavily redacted report yesterday detailing its findings into the allegation of corruption and corruption-related offences against Mr. Adu Boahen.
Reckless Act
The OSP’s report indicated that in the high political office he occupied, it ought reasonably to have occurred to Mr. Adu Boahen that his bargain for 20 of the value of the proposed investment and his receipt of a cash gift of $40,000 from the supposed sheikh was outrightly improper, and he exhibited lack of sound judgment.
It said Mr. Adu Boahen’s 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 $200,000 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 on his behalf.
“All the indices point to the conclusion that 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 OSP’s report indicates.
Further Action
The OSP, however, indicated that though Mr. Adu Boahen’s conduct amounts to trading in influence or influence peddling, which is closely associated with corruption, there is no actual criminal prohibition of his acts in respect of which the OSP has a mandate to further act.
The OSP therefore, called for the closure, at this time, of the investigation in respect of allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences involving Charles Adu Boahen contained in the investigative documentary.
The Office, however, called for the passage of a ‘Corrupt Practices Act’ to comprehensively codify the prohibition of all forms of corruption as well as passage of a ‘Conduct of Public Officers Act’ to properly regulate the conduct of public officers.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak