Ghana’s security operatives have arrested Bright Mensah Bonsu, the man accused of unlawfully receiving US$1.5 million in cash as part of an alleged attempted sale of a prime diplomatic property belonging to Ghana’s High Commission in Nigeria.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the arrest on his official X account. In the post, he declared: “We got him! Bright Mensah Bonsu, the man who received US$ 1.5 million cash and signed documents purporting to sell a prime diplomatic property belonging to Ghana’s High Commission in Nigeria has finally been arrested by Ghanaian security operatives.”
Accoding to details of the minister’s post, Bonsu, who allegedly referred to himself as a “special aide” to the late Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Ghana’s former High Commissioner to Nigeria, is said to have valued the prime Lagos beachfront diplomatic property at US$5.3million and considered the US$1.5million payment as the first installment.
“It is important to emphasize that the US$ 1.5 million cash was not paid into government accounts neither is there any record at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the cash was officially declared,”the post noted.
In a related development, Ablakwa revealed that an investigation is underway regarding the issuance of a diplomatic passport to Bonsu on October 18, 2023.
“Bright Mensah Bonsu was not a staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ghana High Commission in Nigeria even though he was often seen in the company of the High Commissioner.
“As we await criminal prosecution shortly, it would be interesting to see how Mr. Mensah Bonsu backs his claims that he acted on the instructions of his superiors, and that those superiors gave him access to documents on the diplomatic property,” the minister said further in his post.
