The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has strongly denied accusations of soliciting a $20,000 bribe from Claude Convincer Davit, the Chief Executive Officer of Alafei Food.
Davit alleged that the bribe was sought to facilitate access to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for a loan guarantee related to a project under the government’s flagship One District, One Factory program.
In a press statement posted on Facebook on November 29, 2023, and signed by his media assistant, Paul Yandoh, Asenso-Boakye dismissed the allegations as “false and evil.” Yandoh emphasized that the minister has no knowledge of Davit and has never engaged in any interaction with him.
Additionally, he highlighted that this is not the first time Davit has made such accusations, and they were previously determined to be baseless.
“Our attention has been drawn to a video of a gentleman by name Claude Convincer Davit in which he alleges that in 2017 the Deputy Chief of staff at the Office of the President, Hon Asenso-Boakye solicited for a bribe from him in order to grant him access to the President.
“We wish to state categorically that the allegation is false and evil. Hon Asenso-Boakye does not know the gentleman in question. He has never met him nor had any interaction whatsoever with him,” part of the statement read.
The statement went on to say that the minister’s opponents might be using the repeated accusation as a political ploy to damage his reputation.
“It may be recalled that this is not the first time this allegation has been made against the MP by the same person. It became obvious then that there was no iota of truth in the allegation. It gives cause to wonder why the gentleman will repeat the same allegation at this time if not for evil and malicious intentions.
“It bears saying that the repetition of a false allegation does not make it true. It was false then, and it is false today. It is obvious that this is a spurious allegation which has resurfaced as a result of the propaganda machinations of the MP’s political opponents and detractors who wish to court unnecessary public disaffection for him in order to score cheap political points.
“Should the Ghana Police and/or the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) find any weight in the allegation, we strongly suggest then that they invite Mr. Davit to provide further and better particulars,” the statement added.
Davit claimed that Asenso-Boakye had asked for the bribe in a now-viral video during a 2017 visit to the White House, when the minister was the deputy chief of staff at the President’s Office.
He told his story of the purported bribery, saying that he was unable to get the loan guarantee approved because he refused to pay the $20,000 in question.