Scandal-plagued TOR MD resigns
Plagued by a bribery scandal, the Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Berko, has resigned.
The Presidency released a statement Wednesday announcing the 46-year old had tendered in his resignation.
He is accused of sharing bribes of about $2.5million between 2015 and 2016 to have approved, a contract to purchase a power plant during Ghana’s energy crisis.
Mr. Berko leaves a job he took over barely three months ago as he seeks to clear his name in a US court as he denies the bribery allegations.
It remains to be seen whether investigative agencies such as the Special Prosecutor, the Police CID or Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) would take up the Ghana leg of the matter.
US court documents, without mentioning names, fingered MPs, civil servants at the Power Ministry and government officials for taking the bribes arranged by Mr. Berko.
He took the money from a Turkish power company and paid it through a Ghanaian company, acting as an intermediary.
This company then forwarded the payments to their intended targets of compromise and corruption.
In a country firmly focused on fighting coronavirus, the scandal has found space in media discussions, with the resignation set to increase scrutiny into the roles of various government officials.
Already, eputy Power Minister under the Mahama administration, John Jinapor, has denied knowledge of the bribery scheme.
Even in opposition, the NDC is battling two bribery scandals in an election year.
There is the Airbus saga in which aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has confessed to paying bribes in Ghana and other countries between 2011 and 2015.
Explosive document: Airbus confesses sharing bribes in Ghana as £3bn corruption fine bites
According to the court document, an Airbus defence company engaged an unnamed person, only identified as Intermediary 5, a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghana government official (also not named but referred to as Government Official 1), as its business partner in respect of the proposed sale of three aircraft to the government of Ghana.