Ayariga bribery saga ‘stinks’ – Ivor Greenstreet

The entire allegation that Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko attempted to bribe Minority MPs on the Appointments Committee to unanimously approve his nomination “stinks”, the 2016 flag bearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ivor Greenstreet, has said.

Mr Greenstreet wondered why persons of high repute like parliamentarians would lie to the citizenry who voted them into power to better their lives.

According to him, there is a lying game being played by those involved and expressed confidence in the Joe Ghartey Committee to bring finality to the matter.

“The chair of the ad hoc committee, Joe Ghartey, is a serious person who, with his fellow members, will try and do his best to get to the bottom of the matter. But clearly the whole thing stinks,” Mr Greenstreet told Class News’ Kwesi Parker-Wilson in an exclusive interview.

“And you wonder why a body at the highest level like our parliament, our legislature, people who are supposed to be called honourable, people who are supposed to go and make laws to make our lives better…they are all engaged in this horrible pot, which is nothing but a lying game. The NDC seems to be lying, the NPP seems to be lying. The whole thing is just a pot of lies and so the smell from this pot is very repulsive.”

He noted that the scandal was a reflection of the “rot which has pervaded so many facets of the society, whether the churches, judiciary or the politicians, whether the police or whether the ordinary citizen”.

Mr Greenstreet called for a change in attitude saying “unless we all change our attitude incrementally in our own little lives, we won’t be able to get that large change that we desire as a nation”, further stating: “I think it’s a wake-up call that we need to take seriously if we want to move the nation forward.”

He debunked assertions that a parliamentary committee investigating its own was much ado about nothing. Instead Mr Greenstreet noted: “It is important that the committee was formed and all the testimonies, both oral and written, will be in the public domain. So let us see what comes out of it but not totally condemn them until the process is over…”

It is recalled that the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, who is also a member of the Appointments Committee, alleged that Minority MPs rejected GHS3000 given to them by Joe Osei-Owusu, chairman of the Appointments Committee, after they had found out the money was coming from Mr Agyarko, then Energy Minister-designate, to induce them to approve his nomination after he had appeared before the committee.

Mr Osei-Owusu has denied the allegations against him.