Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has urged the Office of the Special Prosecutor to accelerate its inquiry into claims that Deputy Minority Leader and Asokwa MP Patricia Appiagyei received GH¢70,000 linked to the vetting of ministerial and Supreme Court nominees.
The purported payment is said to relate to the activities of Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
In a statement released by Parliament on Saturday, 5 September, Bagbin emphasised that the claims warranted careful examination, especially given their connection to a parliamentary committee’s work.
“The Rt. Hon. Speaker welcomes any lawful investigation directed at establishing the facts and urges the Office of the Special Prosecutor to pursue the matter thoroughly and expeditiously,” the statement noted.
Bagbin stressed that the probe should determine both whether any such payment occurred and whether the central memorandum is genuine.
Parliament made clear that it has not itself confirmed the document’s authenticity and will therefore refrain, for now, from judging the competing accounts.
Should investigators conclude that the memorandum was forged or wrongly ascribed to the Deputy Minority Leader, Bagbin insisted the matter must not stop there. He called for the Cyber Security Authority and other competent law-enforcement bodies to identify those responsible for any fabrication and, where evidence permits, to ensure they face the proper legal sanctions.
The dispute arose after a purported memo, said to have been written by Mrs Appiagyei and sent to Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, began circulating. The document allegedly stated that she had returned GH¢70,000 previously given to her as an advance connected with the vetting process.
Mrs Appiagyei has rejected the claims, insisting she neither received nor returned any such sum and describing both the allegations and the memorandum as false and fabricated.
The OSP has already opened preliminary inquiries to determine the truth, origin and circumstances of the alleged payment and the contested document.
Pending the investigation’s outcome, Parliament has appealed to the public and the media to show restraint, avoid further distribution of the disputed memo, and refrain from reaching conclusions before the facts are established.
Bagbin also restated Parliament’s dedication to transparency, accountability and the integrity of its procedures, especially those of the Appointments Committee.
