The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has cautioned against assuming that Asante Kwaku Berko’s conviction in the United States automatically establishes bribery allegations involving individuals in Ghana.

Director of Strategy, Research and Communications at the OSP, Samuel Appiah Darko, said although the US conviction provides useful information for the ongoing Ghanaian investigation, the evidence must still be carefully assessed within the context of Ghana’s legal requirements.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Wednesday, August 26, Mr Appiah Darko said the evidence that secured Berko’s conviction in the United States was not necessarily sufficient, on its own, to establish that specific individuals in Ghana received bribes.

He explained that Berko was convicted primarily on evidence including emails and a ledger he allegedly maintained, as well as testimony from a witness secured with the assistance of the OSP.

“He was convicted primarily on two things: that is his own email and that he was keeping his own ledger and saying, ‘I gave this to this, I gave that to that,” he said.

Mr Appiah Darko stressed that the existence of an allegation in the US proceedings does not necessarily mean every aspect of the allegation was established beyond reasonable doubt.

Using an alleged payment to Evans Mensah of Joy as an example, he said the fact that the allegation appeared in Berko’s records did not mean the US court had independently established that the payment was actually made.

“The fact that he said, ‘I gave money to Evans Mensah of Joy,’ does not mean that in an American court it was proven that he gave money to Evans Mensah.

“In Ghana, you need to prove that indeed money went to Evans Mensah. So the two are slightly distinct. They are not the same,” Mr Appiah Darko said.

He therefore described the OSP’s current approach as a careful investigation intended to establish the direct evidence required before drawing conclusions against persons of interest.

His comments come after the OSP named former Power Minister Kwabena Donkor and four other individuals as persons of interest in its investigation into the Ghanaian dimension of the Berko bribery case.

The other individuals are former technical adviser to the Minister of Power Francis Walkson Kwesi Gyata, former deputy director at the Ministry of Power Solomon Adjetey Sowah, former director at Tricop Group Limited Lindin George Nii Mettle and Tricop Group employee Baffour Ankomah Brobbey.

Mr Appiah Darko also appealed for patience with the OSP, noting that complex corruption investigations require time and substantial resources.

He pointed out that the US investigation into Berko lasted about six years, despite the resources available to American investigators.

He said the extradition of Berko from the United Kingdom to the United States alone took about a year.