Special Prosecutor, William Kissi Agyebeng, has called the bluff of those saying the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) lacks the capacity to investigate the Ghanaian dimension of the AKSA Energy bribery scandal.
His comments follow claims that the Office is unfit to handle the matter involving some Ghanaian officials.
His reaction comes after Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Edem Srem-Sai, averred that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), rather than the OSP, is leading the local investigation.
Dr. Srem-Sai had explained that the OSP is not handling the matter because the case involves offences like money laundering that fall directly under EOCO’s legal mandate.
The AKSA case stems from a power plant deal negotiated between the Government of Ghana and Turkish energy firm AKSA Enerji Uretim A.S. during the power crisis (dumsor) between December 2014 and March 2017.
According to US prosecutors, Kwaku Asante Berko, a former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London, conspired to pay over $1 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials to secure approvals for the deal.
A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Berko on August 6, 2026, after a nine-day trial, on charges of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violation of the FCPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He faces up to 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 10, 2026.
The OSP, in a public notice on August 10, 2026, disclosed that it provided investigative and evidentiary assistance to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through Ghana’s mutual legal assistance framework, a role the US Department of Justice has described as “significant assistance to this prosecution.”
Addressing the media on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, Mr Agyebeng, expressed shock that the same office that assisted in the successful US prosecution is being described as lacking capacity to handle the Ghanaian dimension of the matter.
“Still on this case, we have heard talk, and from official sources that the OSP should not be the institution investigating the matter and that the OSP lacks the capability and track record to investigate the matter,” he indicated.
Mr Agyebeng questioned the logic, saying it “begs the obvious”, such that “the institution, which provided significant assistance to the successful prosecution of Berko in the United States, rather lacks the capability and track record to investigate the Ghana dimension, and that other institutions, which were not even involved in the matter are competent than the OSP?”
He admonished those making such comments to at least commend the Office for its role in the US conviction. “Once again, wokyiri okwaduo a, na w’ayi n’amirika, to wit, “if you hate the duiker, you must at least admire its running prowess.”
Deputy A-G Srem-Sai defends decision to assign AKSA bribery probe to EOCO instead of OSP
