I worked for my $133k Dubai property

A former Deputy Finance Minister Moses Asaga has dismissed claims of wrongdoing following a publication that links former appointees of John Mahama to properties in Dubai. The former Nabdam lawmaker rubbished the publication by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP saying he worked long enough to be able to acquire such a property.

According to the former Employment Minister, properties at Trassaco in Ghana are sold between $1 million and $5 million. These properties, he said, are occupied by Ghanaians who are working with banks and other top state enterprises so it is not a crime if he can acquire a property worth $133,000.

Moses Asaga said the publication is politically motivated and should not be regarded.

“I thought I had done something criminal and corrupt worth investigating. $133, 000, shouldn’t I be able to own such an investment? What are the prices of Trasaco properties $1m- $3m who are staying there? Is it not politicians and majority NPP functionaries? Has the OCCRP gone to put a story on them? This is a political machination.”

Explaining further, Moses Asaga said before he joined politics he worked in high-profile jobs at Ecobank and GNPC before becoming a Deputy Minister and later a minister. He then served as CEO of the National Petroleum Authority. To him, it is normal that he should be able to acquire such property due to his extensive career not through illegal means.

“So, they think for my 30-year working life I should not have an investment of that paltry amount. Before politics, I worked with Ecobank, and GNPC and was Deputy Minister of Finance, Minister for Employment, and CEO of NPA. I could not afford an investment of $133,000 for a student one-bedroom apartment. What is the crime and corruption involved in this?

“In Ghana, new apartments are being sold for $200,000 plus, and Trasaco is $1m–$5m. Who stays in them is [it] not bankers, CEOs of GNPC, COCOBOD, BOST, and politicians,” Moses Asaga asked on Citi FM.