The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has named five persons of interest in the Ghanaian dimension of the bribery case involving former Goldman Sachs banker and Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director, Asante Kwaku Berko.
He was, however, quick to add that being a person of interest does not mean any of the five is a suspect or has been found culpable of an offence.
The persons identified by the Special Prosecutor are former Power Minister, Kwabena Donkor; Francis Walkson Kwasi Dzafa, a former Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power; Solomon Adjetey Sowah, a Deputy Director; Lyndon Nii Mettle, Director of Tricorp Group Limited; and Baffour Ankomah Brobbey, an employee of Tricorp Group Limited.
The announcement follows Berko’s conviction by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, on August 6, 2026, over his role in a scheme involving more than US$1 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials in connection with the development and financing of a power plant. The project involved Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji and the Government of Ghana.
The United States prosecution established that Berko and his co-conspirators discussed and made payments intended to influence Ghanaian officials and secure approvals for the power project. US prosecutors said the scheme operated between 2014 and 2015, during a period of severe power shortages in Ghana.
According to evidence presented in the US proceedings, Berko and his associates discussed a payment of US$1 million to the then Minister of Power, who had responsibility for key approvals required to advance the project.
The case materials also referred to payments involving other Ghanaian officials and persons connected to the Ministry of Power, as well as payments associated with a trip by Ghanaian officials to Turkey to inspect equipment for the proposed plant.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) also dismissed suggestions that it lacked the track record to probe the matter, stating categorically that as an institution that assisted in the case, it was more than qualified to investigate.
Below is exactly what the OSP said:
On 6 August 2026, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Asante Kwaku Berko (a dual citizen of Ghana and the United States and former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery and former Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division of the U.S. based Goldman Sachs group) of conspiring to pay and paying more than $1m in bribes between 2014 – 2015 to multiple Ghanaian officials in connection with the development and financing of a 370 megawatt fuel oil plant in Tema, Ghana under a deal between the Republic of Ghana and Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S., a Turkish energy company and Goldman Sachs client.
The OSP provided investigation and evidentiary assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States through Ghana’s established mutual legal assistance framework. The involvement of the OSP has been acknowledged by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) as providing “significant assistance” to the prosecution. The conviction underscores the importance of international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of complex corrupt acts spanning multiple jurisdictions.
Predictably, the outcome of the trial of Berko in the United States ignited immense public interest and discourse on the domestic dimension of the investigation in Ghana. We wish to state clearly that the OSP’s work on the matter did not end with the assistance provided to the authorities in the United States. We have been actively and carefully investigating the Ghanaian dimension. I say carefully, because it must always be borne in mind that a conviction of a person in a foreign jurisdiction does not, without more, establish criminal liability under Ghanaian law or justify the immediate prosecution of other persons in Ghana connected with the underlying conduct. Each person’s acts must be assessed under Ghanaian law, using lawfully obtained evidence capable of supporting a prosecution here. The nature of the evidence and the applicable law determine whether prosecution should be commenced in Ghana or otherwise.
That is to say, the conviction of Asante Kwaku Berko in the United States does not provide automatic basis for the prosecution of identified persons who acted with him under Ghanaian law. The circumstances of the case are such that the actions of Berko may not necessarily establish culpability in other persons under Ghanaian law. The OSP will not prosecute a person solely on the basis that a person’s name appears in proceedings conducted in another country. Equally, the OSP will not hesitate to prosecute such persons where the evidence establishes a proper basis for so proceeding.
As I stated earlier, we have been carefully investigating the Ghana dimension, and our public silence has not meant inaction. Our involvement with the case, and the evidence so far, enable us to identify the following as the main persons of interest:
Kwabena Donkor, at all times the Minister of Power
Francis Walkson Kwesi Dzata, at all times the Technical Advisor to the Minister of Power
Solomon Adjetey Sowah, at all times a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Power
Lyndon George Nii Saul Mettle, at all times a Director at Tricorp Group Limited
Baffour Ankoma Brobbey, at all times an employee at Tricorp Group Limited
Other persons of interest include some present and former employees of Volta River Authority, Ghana Grid Company Limited, Electricity Company of Ghana, Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission, and some staff of the entity formerly known as Ministry of Power.
Please bear in mind, and this point should be strongly emphasized, that a person of interest is not necessarily a suspect. The two categories are distinct investigative classifications and should not be treated as interchangeable. Then again, identification in either category does not constitute criminal culpability or conviction until guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a court of competent jurisdiction. So, we should be circumspect as to how we report this announcement and how we treat the named persons of interest.
Still on this case, we have heard talk 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. This begs the obvious – the institution which provided significant assistance to the successful prosecution of Berko in the United States lacks the capability and track record to investigate the Ghana dimension; and other institutions, which were not even involved in the matter, are more competent than the OSP? Once again – wo kyiri okwaduo a yi ni mmirika.
At the OSP we do not regard the fight against corruption as a competition between institutions and as pitching one public agency against the other. At the OSP we reckon that the anti-corruption drive is better served through cooperation and collaboration among public institutions. History teaches us that where investigative and intelligence agencies compete among themselves and fail to cooperate with each other, unhappy events ensue – as was the case with the infamous events of 11 September 2001 in the United States.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
