The Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Hon. James Agalga, has refuted allegations that the committee received a GH¢960,000 bribe to facilitate the passage of the National Signals Bureau (NSB) Act, 2020 (Act 1040).
He described the claim as “baseless and an act of desperation.”
In a statement, Hon. Agalga responded to social media reports attributed to Kwabena Adu Boahene, a former Akim Abuakwa South MP and lawyer for the embattled ex-director General of the National Signals Bureau. The reports suggested the alleged payment was made to MPs as allowances to aid the bill’s passage.
“I categorically deny the spurious claims made by Mr. Adu Boahene through his lawyer. The National Signals Bureau did not exist before the passage of the Act in 2020, so Adu Boahene can’t have paid any monies on behalf of an agency that was not yet established,” Agalga stated.
He clarified that at the time of the bill’s consideration in 2020, Hon. Seth Acheampong chaired the committee while he (Agalga) served as the ranking member.
According to him, the committee’s engagements were strictly with the then National Security Minister, Hon. Albert Kan Dapaah, and the late National Security Coordinator, Mr. Joshua Kyeremeh.
Hon. Agalga also revealed that he first encountered Mr Adu Boahene in 2021, well after the Act had been passed when he was formally introduced to the committee as the newly appointed Director General of the NSB.
“In effect, the committee had nothing to do with Adu Boahene at the time Parliament enacted Act 1040 and could not have received any monies from him,” he stressed.
