Former Adansi Asokwa Member of Parliament K.T. Hammond has argued that allegations by US authorities against convicted former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director and Goldman Sachs banker Asante Kwaku Berko do not establish that former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor received any money.
Mr Hammond, who is representing Dr Donkor as his lawyer, said evidence presented in the United States case involving Mr Berko did not directly link his client to any alleged bribe.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday, August 10, 2026, Mr Hammond said Dr Donkor acknowledged that he was the Minister responsible for Power in 2015 when discussions surrounding the ASKA power project took place, but had categorically denied receiving any inducement.
“He instructs me to say that he has never in his life made eye contact with that person,” Mr Hammond said, referring to Mr Berko.
“More importantly, his instructions are that he categorically denies knowing anything about any form of inducement, any money, dollars, cedis, whatever. He has absolutely no clue what is being talked about.”
Mr Hammond said the US prosecution established that Mr Berko had made demands for money, including through communications recovered from his electronic devices, but argued that such evidence did not prove that the intended recipients actually received the money.
“For the Americans and for the purpose of that prosecution, it simply means that he was involved in a kind of bribery from his own evidence,” Mr Hammond said.
“But when you then take out the individuals, I don’t get the impression that the fact that somebody said that I was going to give me some money, first of all I’m going to hand it over to this other person, constitute evidential basis for allegation, serious allegation of criminality.”
Mr Hammond argued that a claim by one person that money was intended for another individual could not, without additional evidence, establish that the person named had received or benefited from the alleged payment.
He also rejected suggestions that Dr Donkor should be implicated simply because he was the Minister responsible for the Power Ministry at the time the ASKA project was being considered.
According to Mr Hammond, holding the ministerial position did not, in itself, constitute evidence of involvement in any alleged bribery scheme.
Mr Hammond further dismissed suggestions that Parliament or individual Members of Parliament received money in connection with the transaction.
He explained that the relevant agreements and documents were brought before Parliament as part of the legislative process for scrutiny and ratification.
“What we do in Parliament is not a sale of indulgence, sale of documentation or sale of any business. We do our mandated duty of scrutinising documents,” he said.
