Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has reacted to a bribery allegation against two Ghanaian politicians by a South African media house.

An investigative report by a prominent news portal in South Africa, News24, outlines various instances where substantial sums of money were allegedly transferred to Tamale South MP, Mr Haruna Iddrisu through intermediaries from 2015 to 2020, with some funds purportedly used to finance projects associated with him.

The Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, has denied taking a bribe worth $2.5 million to see to the operations of Ghana Infrastructure Company (GIC), owned by the Singh siblings, Rushil and Nishani.

of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu

Reacting to this, Mr Simons asserts that these individuals are likely to be under attack by the government.

"In an explosive piece of investigative journalism, News24 is accusing two top politicians in Ghana from both major parties of receiving kickbacks from a South African owned company, GIC. Curiously, both politicians have recently been a thorn in the flesh of the ruling party," he wrote in a post on X platform.

An excerpt of a statement from Mr Iddrisu, which debunks this claim, reads, "To be clear, and for the avoidance of doubt, I have never at any point in time, received personally, directed to be paid to, benefited from, or been aware of, any unlawful, illegal or immoral payments made by either GIC or the Singhs. Also, I have never brokered any deals to benefit GIC and/or the Singhs."

The five-year operation of Ghana Infrastructure Company (GIC) began from 2017 to 2022, and according to Mr Iddrisu he has neither been a director nor a shareholder of GIC, and is not involved in its management.

In view of this, Mr Iddrisu has demanded that News24 provide concrete evidence to support their accusations.

Presently, the Tamale South MP has referred the matter to his lawyers and eagerly await their advice on the next steps to be taken.

The report also mentioned a former MP for Ejisu, Kwabena Owusu Aduom, who contested in the recently held Ejisu-by election, but did not drill into details of how he benefitted.

Kwabena Owusu Aduomi's involvement was largely linked to some road subcontracts that GIC got.

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ejisu, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi

"Aduomi is not a signatory to the contracts but in his capacity as deputy roads minister, he was in charge of the departments responsible for the administration of the bids — most of the deals were awarded on a sole source basis.

"But it appears that Haruna was their main go-to person to secure contracts in the Ashanti Region, from where Aduomi hails, and in Tamale, Haruna's constituency," the report added.