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Even before the former Deputy British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Craig Murray complies to government�s decision to invite him to assist in investigations into the alleged dubious contract dealings signed during former President John Kufuor�s administration, Mr Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Presidential Affairs Minister, had jumped into the fray with interesting revelations. According to him, the previous administration awarded contracts to Mr Craig Murray not on merit, but on basis of humanitarian grounds to enable him (Craig) offset his debts, which had threatened his life. According to him, such a move was done when Craig made an appeal to the President and explained his difficulties. The former Chief of Staff, who stated that he had retired from what he described as �active noise politics�, made the revelation when he spoke on Citi FM, an Accra based private radio station yesterday. �He came to see President Kufour about difficulties he was facing; he had been sacked by his government and his newly wedded wife was pregnant at that time, and if he doesn�t get anything doing he would be declared bankrupt in his country. So he came to see the Presdient for support�this was the time we were looking critically at the Energy sector in this country and he came in and said he could supply these turbines or generators and we talked to the Ministry of Energy on his behalf to see if they could help,� Mr Mpianim said. Admitting that he could be faulted on the decision, he argued that there was a consultation between the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Finance before approval was given, stressing it was done to relief him from his predicament. Mr Murray�s company, Atholl, secured an Energy contract from Ghana to supply turbines and generators after seeking audience with former President Mr Kufuor. According to Mr Mpiani, though he cannot tell the details of pricing and cost of what went into the award of the contract, because he was not directly involved, he believes Mr Murray could be playing mischief despite the efforts made by the previous administration to help him balance his account to avoid being declared bankrupt. Pressed to reveal the circumstances under which the contract was awarded, Mr Mpiani, who is alleged to have wielded a lot of power during the Kufuor administration, and was sometimes refereed to be his colleagues as �Shadow President�, said �the gentleman brought his proposal and it was sent to the technical men at the Ministry of energy.� According to him, he only pressed upon the technical men to critically examine the proposal and they believed that the proposal was right. Mr Mpiani�s entry into the issue could only be a tip of the iceberg, as one of the companies, Zakhem, mentioned by Mr Craig Murray in his allegations have threatened to haul him to court for false and defamatory statements. In an article published on his blog, Murray alleged that the Kufuor administration entered into a deal with Zakhem in which the company was supposed to build the Kpone Power Project for the Volta River Authority. He stated that VRA bought the turbines from the manufacturer, Alsthom, for US $70 million and paid Zakhem US$80 million upfront to install them and provide the ancillary equipment. �After three years, what do Ghanaian taxpayers have to show for their US $150 million? Absolutely nothing, just an empty field at Kpone, surrounded by Ghana�s longest concrete wall so the Ghanaian public cannot see that their money has been stolen. What is happening about it? Nothing, because Zakhem and their Ghanaian partners have stolen enough money to bribe all the officials involved. They are now claiming around town that the new government is also in their pocket, he noted. He alleged that most of the $80 million has vanished forever, while the $70 million turbines are now badly damaged by disuse. But Zakhem has responded saying it deems Mr Murray�s article and subsequent interviews on Ghanaian radio stations as rather damaging and has requested him to retract the allegations and apologise or else the company will take the necessary legal action against him.