Future power contracts must include anti-corruption clauses – Samuel Bekoe

The Executive Director of the Centre for Extractives and Development Africa, Samuel Bekoe, is calling for stronger anti-corruption and transparency provisions in Ghana’s power purchase agreements and procurement contracts.

He said contracts for power projects should contain clear provisions allowing the government to terminate agreements with companies found to have engaged in bribery or other corrupt practices.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, August 10, 2026, Mr Bekoe said the conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker and former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director, Asante Kwaku Berko in the United States presented an opportunity for Ghana to strengthen its procurement and contract management systems.

“It’s an opportunity for us to introduce this seriously; we have to bring in and have a clear anti-corruption rule within the contract so that in case there is any investigation that finds any corruption in there, we will have the opportunity and the mandate to either cancel or end business with any competitor who may have engaged in bribery or corruption,” he said.

Mr Bekoe said the case also exposed weaknesses in Ghana’s transparency and beneficial ownership disclosure frameworks at the time the Kpong power plant project was being pursued.

“On the other hand, it shows that by then we had not fully implemented our beneficial ownership disclosure measures. But this is another opportunity with what we are seeing now,” he said.

He called for clear anti-corruption and transparency provisions to be incorporated into power purchase agreements and the procurement processes for selecting companies to develop power projects.

“Clear anti-corruption rules, transparency rules within our power purchase agreement, and also our procedures leading to selecting a company to build our power plant as well, which is the procurement process,” he said.

Mr Bekoe also called for greater transparency in power purchase agreements, including the publication of the contracts to allow for public scrutiny.

He said concerns about commercially sensitive information should not be used as a blanket justification for keeping power purchase agreements from public scrutiny.

“For some reason, there have always been certain exceptions that say that, oh, there is sensitive information in that power purchase agreement. I have gotten some of the PPAs and looked through them, and I don’t see any sensitive information in there,” he said.

Mr Bekoe said stronger transparency measures would help protect public resources and ensure that companies selected for major power projects were subjected to proper scrutiny.

His comments follow the conviction of Mr Berko in the United States over his role in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian government officials in connection with a power plant project by AKSA Enerji.

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has subsequently begun tracing funds and assets that may be linked to the case.

In a statement issued on Monday, August 10, 2026, EOCO said it would examine transactions, beneficiaries, assets and proceeds that may have been derived from or connected to suspected criminal conduct and pursue their preservation and recovery where supported by evidence and permitted by law.

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