GH₵960k ‘bribery’ allegation against Parliament, Defence Committee baseless – Agalga

The Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, James Agalga, has refuted allegations suggesting that Members of Parliament received GH₵960,000 in bribes to facilitate the passage of the National Signals Bureau Act, 2020 (Act 1040).

The claims, made by former ex-Director General of the National Signals Bureau, Kwabena Adu Boahene, in a memo to the Auditor General, were described by Agalga as “spurious,” “baseless,” and “an act of desperation.”

In a signed statement, Agalga clarified that at the time of the Act’s passage in 2020, Adu Boahene had no involvement with the Bureau, which was not yet operational.

He further explained that Adu Boahene only assumed his role in 2021 and therefore could not have made payments to a parliamentary committee for a bill passed before his appointment.

“At the time of the passage of Act 1040, Hon Seth Acheampong was the Committee Chairman and I served as the Ranking Member,” Agalga noted. “The National Signals Bureau, which Mr. Boahene later headed, did not even exist when the bill was being considered.”

He added that the committee only engaged with the then-Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, and the late National Security Coordinator, Joshua Kyeremeh, throughout the legislative process.

“The committee had nothing to do with Adu-Boahene during the passage of the Act and therefore could not have received any money from him,” Agalga emphasized.