Former Adansi Asokwa MP Kobina Tahir Hammond has strongly rejected allegations that he and other members of Parliament’s Energy Committee benefited from a purported $46,000 bribe linked to the ratification of the Aksa Energy agreement with the Government of Ghana.

Hammond, who served as Ranking Member of the Energy Committee in 2014 and 2015, said the allegation did not make sense and insisted that the committee had no knowledge of any bribery arrangement.

His comments followed questions about the conviction of Kwaku Asante Berko in the United States and allegations concerning payments allegedly made to Ghanaian officials in connection with a power plant project.

Berko, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery, was recently convicted in the United States. The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said Berko and his associates paid more than $1 million in bribes connected to the development of a power plant in Ghana.

Court proceedings also referred to discussions in August 2015 concerning $250,000 in alleged bribe payments to various individuals. This reportedly included $46,000 allegedly paid to members of the Ghanaian Parliament involved in the ratification of the Aksa Energy agreement.

The court proceedings also referred to the phrase “holy rain”, allegedly used by the conspirators when discussing a bribe payment that a recipient was awaiting.

Hammond’s comments came after Cavendish Chambers, his law firm, issued a statement on Monday, August 10, 2026, on behalf of former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor, denying any involvement in the alleged bribery scheme.

According to the statement, Dr Donkor was the relevant minister at the time and his Ministry of Power was involved in negotiations with Aksa Energy to generate electricity during Ghana’s severe power crisis, popularly known as “Dumsor”.

The lawyers said a technical team from relevant power-sector stakeholders was sent to Istanbul, Turkey, to inspect equipment before shipment, describing the exercise as standard practice.

Dr Donkor maintained that he had never met Berko, had never discussed any personal benefit with him or anyone else, and had never authorised anyone to discuss such matters on his behalf.

He also said he had never received money or any personal benefit from Berko or anyone else.

Hammond said he associated himself with the denial, particularly regarding the allegations involving members of Parliament.

According to him, the fact that individuals allegedly discussed paying bribes did not establish that the intended recipients eventually received the money.

He said it was “the most repugnant aspect of it” to suggest that he and 17 other members of the Energy Committee shared the alleged $46,000.

“For the sake of all that is making the rounds, people are taking one million…, and then the suggestion is that K.T. Hammond, and his [committee] we took about, $500 [each], because the money is supposed to be $30,000. Then you hear $10,000 somewhere, then some $6,000; they round it up to $46,000,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM.

“We had 18 people in Parliament (Members on the Energy Committee), and then the Secretariat and all of that; are they suggesting we shared that and each person got about $500 or $1000 or something?”

“Is K.T, Hammond that bloody cheap? Is that it?” he questioned.

Hammond also expressed frustration over the allegation and said the Energy Committee had no knowledge of any alleged payment.

“Oh, uh, don’t ask me any more questions on that because you upset me. I have absolutely told you that my committee had absolutely no knowledge about that. We do know that the document came to Parliament for ratification. What we do in Parliament is not a sale of documentation or not a sale of any business. Our mandated duty is to scrutinise documents and make sure that… think about it, we are only 28. We get 48, we only scrutinise and eventually take the document to the plenary of over 270 whatever people, 75, 76, so we take $46,000 for 30 something, and then what happens to the rest of the plenary, I mean, does this make sense?”

Hammond’s comments come amid renewed attention on the circumstances surrounding the Aksa Energy agreement following Berko’s conviction in the United States.