A new book by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, titled The President Ghana Never Got, alleges that the Chief of Staff's office at Jubilee House has been funneling money to Parliament's Appointment Committee to expedite the approval of ministerial nominees.

The book claims this practice of financial inducement has been ongoing across multiple administrations, dating back to the presidency of John Evans Atta Mills.

Manasseh alleges that the Chief of Staff periodically sent money to Appointment Committee members during the vetting process.

The book provides an example from 2017, where Mahama Ayariga and other National Democratic Congress (NDC) members alleged that Boakye Agyarko, a then-ministerial nominee, had attempted to bribe the Appointment Committee. These allegations were denied by committee members, with Muntaka Mubarak, a key figure on the committee, dismissing the claims.

Muntaka stated that any money received by the committee did not come from Agyarko but from Jubilee House.

Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chair of the Appointment Committee since 2017, acknowledged the practice of receiving money from the Chief of Staff but denied facilitating payments from ministerial nominees.

Osei-Owusu recounted instances where nominees approached him eager to offer money, but he insisted that such dealings should be conducted directly between the nominees and committee members, refusing to act as a middleman.

In the book, Osei-Owusu expressed surprise at being linked to the distribution of money from Boakye Agyarko to Muntaka Mubarak.

Excerpt from Osei-Owusu’s Account:

"When I asked the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, about the money from the Chief of Staff to the committee, he confirmed it. Mr. Osei-Owusu, who has chaired the Appointments Committee since 2017, said the perception of payments to committee members was so prevalent that ministerial nominees often approached him offering money.

"Before the (2017) vetting started, I discussed with the Majority Leader that I could not accept money on behalf of the members. If a nominee wanted to give money, they should deal directly with that person.

"Because of this perception, some nominees came to me, asking if there was something they should do. When I said no, they persisted, saying, 'Are you sure? It's me, you can trust me. We want to be generous to the committee.' I told them to deal directly with the person they wanted to be generous to.

“He said he was surprised that despite refusing to mediate payments from nominees, he was accused of receiving money from Agyarko and passing it to Muntaka to influence NDC members to approve the nominee. However, he admitted making intermittent calls to the Chief of Staff when committee members approached him with demands for 'motivation.'”

AM/BB

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