Taking Bribes from Expatriates is Shameful – Ken Agyepong tells Akufo-Addo

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for the Assin-North constituency and a top financier of the party, Kennedy Agyepong, has chided the Akufo-Addo government for taking bribes between US$75,000 and US$100,000 from expatriates.

Speaking on Adom TV’s popular morning show “Badwam”, he said it is even unacceptable for the President and the Ministers to accept donations and gifts from expatriates to protect their businesses.

Expatriates who attended the recently held Ghana Business Expatriates Business Awards (GEBA), organised by the Ministry of Trade, were made to pay $100,000 to sit on the same table as the President. Those who sat further away from President Akufo-Addo, were made to pay between $15,000 and $75,000.

The Assin North MP, raised the issue of bribe taking by a nephew of the President and other officials at the Presidency, an allegation that was vehemently denied by the alleged perpetrators and their agents.

The MP alleged that a nephew of the President and his team were taking between $20,000- $30,000 from visitors before they are allowed access to the President. He also accused the Akufo-Addo government of being more corrupt than previous administration.

In another development, information gathered via a source inside the presidency has revealed that the President and his henchmen have come under the international klieg light over bribe-for-patronage scandal in the oil and bauxite industries. This time it involves some Chinese companies. According to our source, these Chinese companies have paid over $100 million worth of bribes to some officials at the Presidency to help them secure contracts in the oil and the extractive industries.

Our source also hinted that some officials working at the Presidency are using letter heads of their offices and other official documents to support some foreign businessmen from Singapore and Vietnam to acquire visas and business documents; and charging them between $250,000 and $500,000 depending on the kind of business they facilitate.