The Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Hon. James Agalga, has refuted bribery allegations claiming the committee accepted GH¢960,000 to facilitate the passage of the National Signals Bureau Act.
He dismissed the accusations as “baseless and an act of desperation.”
In a strongly worded statement, Hon. Agalga addressed reports circulating on social media, attributed to the lawyer for the embattled former Director General of the National Signals Bureau, Kwabena Adu Boahene. These reports alleged that the substantial sum was distributed to MPs as allowances to facilitate the bill’s smooth passage.
“I categorically deny the spurious claims made by Mr. Adu Boahene through his lawyer,” Hon. Agalga declared.
Bribery story
He pointed out a critical flaw in the accuser’s timeline, stating, “The National Signals Bureau did not exist before the passage of the Act in 2020, so Adu Boahene can’t have paid any bribe on behalf of an agency that was not yet established.”
Hon. Agalga further clarified the committee’s leadership and interactions during the period in question. He noted that at the time of the bill’s consideration in 2020, the committee was chaired by Hon. Seth Acheampong, with Agalga himself serving as the ranking member.
According to the current Chairman, all committee engagements regarding the bill were exclusively with the then National Security Minister, Hon. Albert Kan Dapaah, and the late National Security Coordinator, Mr. Joshua Kyeremeh.
Hon. Agalga revealed that his first encounter with Mr. Adu Boahene occurred in 2021, a considerable time after Act 1040 had been passed. It was then that Adu Boahene was formally introduced to the committee as the newly appointed Director General of the National Signals Bureau.
According to him, the committee had nothing to do with Adu Boahene at the time Parliament enacted Act 1040 and could not have received any monies from him.
By Osumanu Al-Hassan/thenewsbulletin24.com