Keypoints:
- OSP has opened a preliminary investigation
- Alleged GH¢70,000 payment remains unverified
- Case echoes an unproven 2017 bribery claim
GHANA’S Office of the Special Prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into claims that GH¢70,000 (about $6,157) was linked to Parliament’s vetting of presidential nominees.
The alleged payment has not been verified, and the memorandum that triggered the probe is disputed. Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei says she did not author it.
What is verified
The OSP confirmed on September 4 that it had begun a preliminary investigation after taking note of a purported memorandum attributed to Appiagyei.
The anti-corruption office said it was investigating the veracity of the document, the source of the alleged funds and their intended purpose. It also confirmed that Appiagyei had been invited to assist investigators.
The OSP said it ‘is actively investigating all extortion allegations involving Members of Parliament’, signalling that its scrutiny extends beyond the disputed memorandum.
The investigation comes amid wider scrutiny of Ghana’s anti-corruption system, with Ghana’s 2025 corruption score remaining at 43 and the OSP pursuing several high-profile cases, including former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, whose case has been closely followed by Africa Briefing.
Parliament’s Appointments Committee vetted two ministerial nominees and three Supreme Court nominees on August 27.
They included Mahama Ayariga, nominated as Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, and Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, nominated as Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.
The judicial nominees were Justice Sophia Rosetta Obuokuwa Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jnr.
Appiagyei has publicly denied authoring the document. She told Graphic Online, the digital platform of state-owned Graphic Communications Group Ltd, that the memorandum was ‘fake’.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and Second Deputy Minority Whip Jerry Ahmed Shaib have also rejected the document.
What remains an allegation
The claim that GH¢70,000 was actually transferred to Appiagyei has not been independently established.
The purported memorandum alleged that she had returned GH¢70,000 described as an ‘advance’ linked to the Appointments Committee’s work.
It further claimed that the money originated from the Majority Chief Whip and passed through Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh. Those assertions remain allegations.
There is currently no verified evidence that the alleged GH¢70,000 constituted a bribe, inducement or proceeds of extortion.
The OSP’s preliminary investigation into the alleged payment is intended to establish whether the document is genuine, whether the money existed, its source and what purpose any payment may have served.
No evidence has been publicly produced showing that Ayariga, Agyeman-Rawlings or any Supreme Court nominee supplied the alleged funds.
Ayariga case echoes 2017 row
The controversy carries a remarkable historical echo because Ayariga, one of the ministerial nominees vetted in August, was himself at the centre of an Appointments Committee bribery allegation in 2017.
Then an opposition MP for Bawku Central, Ayariga alleged that Minority members of the committee had received GH¢3,000 (about $685 at the time) each, purportedly originating from Energy Minister-designate Boakye Agyarko.
Ayariga said MPs initially believed the money was a sitting allowance but returned it after learning of its alleged source. Agyarko denied offering a bribe.
Appearing before Parliament’s investigative committee, Ayariga maintained that weighing the evidence was for the panel.
‘I just tell you what I know and stick to what I know,’ he said.
Graphic Online reported at the time that Ayariga acknowledged having no direct evidence proving committee members received a bribe from Agyarko.
The five-member committee, chaired by Joe Ghartey, subsequently concluded that Ayariga had failed to substantiate the allegation that Agyarko gave money to then Appointments Committee chairman Joseph Osei-Owusu for distribution to MPs.
It found Ayariga in contempt of Parliament and recommended an unqualified apology. Ayariga later apologised to the House.
The 2017 allegation was therefore investigated but not substantiated.
Two cases must remain separate
The historical parallel is striking, but the 2017 controversy provides no evidence of wrongdoing in the present case.
The current matter involves a different alleged payment, different circumstances and, crucially, a memorandum whose authenticity is itself disputed.
The strongest established development is that the OSP has commenced a preliminary investigation. It has not announced a finding that money changed hands or that anyone committed bribery or extortion.
Why the probe matters
Parliament’s Appointments Committee performs one of the legislature’s most sensitive constitutional functions, scrutinising presidential nominees before the House considers their approval.
The committee has also faced heightened political tensions. In 2025, Africa Briefing reported on chaotic scenes during ministerial vetting after government and opposition MPs clashed over the process.
Any proven financial inducement linked to vetting would raise serious questions about parliamentary ethics, institutional independence and public confidence.
But no such conclusion can yet be drawn.
Until investigators establish whether the September 2 memorandum is authentic, whether GH¢70,000 changed hands and what any payment was intended to achieve, Ghana is confronting a serious parliamentary vetting allegation — not a proven bribery scandal.
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