Minority Chief Whip of Parliament and Memeber of Parliament for Asawase , Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak has denied ever meeting the former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery as claimed.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, Mr. Muntaka said though the TOR Managing Director was supposed to have met the committee, he as an individual never engaged him or receive any money from him.
“i am confident beyond all reasonable doubt that never had i seen or had any interaction with the resigned TOR MD until the recent development.
Asante Berko, the former MD of TOR resigned on Wednesday over allegations by US Securities and Exchanges Committee that he paid bribes of over $4.5 million to Ghanaian government officials to influence a power plant deal. Mr. Berko has denied the allegations.
“I’ve been a member of the energy committee, if my memory serves me right, since President Mills but I don’t know him. I’ve been hearing his name, he’s the CEO of TOR now and he’s supposed to have met the committee but to be very frank with you, I don’t get to attend frequently the committee meeting. The same meetings I’ve attended in their reviews, I can’t remember seeing him there. I’m seeing his face for the first time when this news broke out and it’s been published. Obviously, I haven’t been in the leadership all these years but as a member, I can tell you that not a dime came through anybody.”
“I don’t think they are making allegations against us. The gentleman claimed to have paid and then the gentleman comes back to say that I have not paid, but that’s why I keep saying that maybe because he is a public officer. I can tell you, I have never seen that gentleman let alone for any money to exchange hands, maybe you have to ask the chairman then. But I doubt whether any of them interacted with the gentleman but I for one I can stand for myself that in that committee, I have never seen that gentleman let alone talk about exchanging money with him,” he said.
The Asawase MP who served on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee in 2015 and 2016
