Bawumia wasn’t aware Adu-Boahen was charging $200k on his behalf - OSP

The Office of the Special Prosecutor has disclosed that the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was not aware an appearance fee was being collected on his behalf.

The OSP said the Vice President was oblivious of the alleged $200, 000 which Charles Adu-Boahen, a former Minister of State at the Finance Ministry was charging.

“In the high political office he occupied, it ought reasonably to have occurred to Mr Adu Boahen that his bargain for twenty percent (20%) of the value of the proposed investment and his receipt of a cash gift of Forty Thousand United States dollars (US$40,000.00) from the supposed sheikh was outrightly improper, the OSP's report said.

It noted that Mr. Adu Boahen exhibited a lack of sound judgment. His claim that he accepted the cash gift to avoid offending the supposed sheikh lies very thinly; and his suggestion of the payment of an appearance fee of Two Hundred Thousand United States dollars (US$200,000.00) to the Vice President was quite reckless – especially as the Vice President was unaware of the business he was conducting and had not tasked him to demand money of whatever description.”

Mr. Adu Boahen’s principal motivation was his own personal gain though he intimated to the supposed sheikh that he was driven by the potential developmental benefits to Ghana of the proposed investment, the report added.

Mr Adu Baohen, who was subsequently fired by President Nana Akufo-Addo after being captured on video receiving a US$40,000 gift from the alleged businessman and demanding the US$200,000 'appearance fee' on behalf of Dr Bawumia, was, however, cleared by the OSP as not having engaged in anything criminal.

The undercover piece was done by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and aired last year.

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