Appiagyei Denies Authorship of GH¢70,000 Memo, Says She Never Received Any Payment

Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei has issued a formal statement denying that she wrote, authorised or circulated the memorandum at the centre of a widening controversy over an alleged GH¢70,000 payment linked to Parliament’s vetting of ministerial and Supreme Court nominees — and has gone further than her earlier reported comments, stating flatly that she never received any such payment in the first place.
In a signed “For Immediate Release” statement dated September 4 and issued from her office at Parliament, the Asokwa MP said her attention had been drawn to a document circulating in the media purporting to be a memo from her to Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, alleging that she had received and returned GH¢70,000 in connection with the vetting process. “I did not write, authorise, or circulate this document. It is fake and should be disregarded by all,” the statement reads.
A stronger denial than first reported
The statement marks a notable hardening of Appiagyei’s position. Earlier Friday, she was quoted by Graphic Online’s parliamentary correspondent as calling the circulating memo “fake” — but several other outlets, including MyJoyOnline, Asaase Radio, GBC and The Ghana Report, had reported the document’s contents at face value, describing Appiagyei as having received GH¢70,000 as an “advance” from the Majority Chief Whip and then returned it out of concern over its source.
Her formal statement leaves no room for that reading. She said she did not receive any payment of GH¢70,000, “or any other sum, from any person,” in connection with the vetting of ministerial or Supreme Court nominees or in connection with her duties on the Appointments Committee — and that, having received no such payment, she had no occasion to return one, “contrary to what the fake document suggests.” She added that she has “at all times discharged” her committee duties, including in the recent vetting, with integrity.
Explaining the delayed response
Appiagyei offered an explanation for why the denial took much of the day to surface in full: she said she was at a friend’s funeral since the morning, and that when the fabricated document was first brought to her attention, she believed a “FAKE” stamp she had authorised for it would be sufficient to stop its spread — until it gained wider traction in the media regardless.
Legal threat and party messaging
The statement goes beyond a simple denial. Appiagyei called the fabricated document “a serious matter” and said she is taking legal advice on next steps once its source is established, reserving her rights against anyone found responsible for fabricating or knowingly circulating it. She also framed the episode in political terms, suggesting “faceless individuals” were attempting to sow discord within the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary caucus, and used the statement to reaffirm the caucus’s unity behind flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia ahead of the 2028 election.
Where this leaves the OSP investigation
The denial comes hours after the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) issued its own public notice saying it had opened a preliminary investigation into the same document — examining its authenticity, the source of the alleged funds, and their purpose — and had invited Appiagyei to appear and assist with that inquiry. The OSP’s notice had already hedged its language, describing the memo throughout as “purported” rather than treating its contents as established fact.
Appiagyei’s statement does not directly address the OSP’s summons, but her categorical denial that any money changed hands at all sets up a direct factual dispute for investigators to resolve: whether a genuine payment was made and returned, as multiple news reports asserted through the day, or whether the entire episode was fabricated, as she now insists.
The claims made in the names of Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin — who several outlets reported had also returned a share of the disputed funds — have not yet been similarly addressed by his office.