Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey is incorruptible, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has said.

The Public Relations Officer of the Church, Rev George Larbi, told Regina Borley Bortey of Class News on Wednesday, 31 August, that: “My Moderator can never be corrupted. I have worked with him for the past two years and I can say on authority that Rev Prof Martey is not corrupt; he can never be corrupted.”

The comment by the church follows claims by its former PRO, Dr Emmanuel Osei Akyeampong, that the immediate past Moderator accepted $100,000 from a top opposition flag bearer as bribe and a 4x4 vehicle which he had earlier said he rejected.

Rev Martey, a critic of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), in his last address to the media on Tuesday, August 30, said a political party he refused to name tried bribing him with $100,000 so he would stop being critical of it.

He said: “The same party brought $100,000 [to bribe me]. They were lucky I did not have dogs.

“You cannot get me with corruption,” adding: “Never ever should any politician or political activist go to a pastor or minister with money in order to influence him; if you do that you’ll be in trouble.”

However, speaking to Accra-based Kasapa FM, Dr Osei Acheampong said: “On July 28, 2013, around 8:15pm, he invited me to the office of one of the leading opposition parties, not the party of the government. When I got there he had received the $100,000 and a V8 he claimed to have rejected. And he gave me $50,000. I am speaking on authority that he received the money.”

However, the current PRO said the allegations levelled against Prof Martey by Dr Akyeampong were plain lies which the church would not waste its time fighting. “We are not prepared to engage him in any legal battle for defamation or [anything]… The Moderator has better things to do than that.”