James Agalga, the Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, has firmly rejected allegations claiming that Members of Parliament received GH₵960,000 in bribes to facilitate the passage of the National Signals Bureau Act, 2020 (Act 1040).
The accusations originated from Kwabena Adu Boahene, the former Director General of the National Signals Bureau, who made the assertions in a memo addressed to the Auditor General. Agalga labeled these allegations as “spurious,” “baseless,” and an “act of desperation.”
In a detailed statement, Agalga clarified that at the time the Act was passed in 2020, Adu Boahene had no ties to the Bureau, which was not yet operational. He pointed out that Adu Boahene only took on his role in 2021, thereby making it impossible for him to have made any payments to a parliamentary committee for a bill that was enacted prior to 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 stated. He emphasized that the National Signals Bureau, which Adu Boahene later led, did not even exist during the legislative discussions surrounding the bill.
Agalga further reiterated that the committee solely interacted with 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,” he concluded.
This statement aims to clear the air around the allegations and reaffirm the integrity of the parliamentary process in Ghana.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
