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Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has come to the defense of its immediate past Moderator, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey.

According to the Church, “the out-going moderator is incorruptible.”

The comment by the Church follows claims by former Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Church, Dr. Emmanuel Osei Akyeampong, that the immediate past Moderator accepted $100,000 from a top politician as bribe and a four-wheel drive vehicle which he (Prof. Martey) had earlier said he rejected.

Speaking on various media platforms yesterday, PRO of the Church, Rev. George Larbi, stressed that: “My Moderator can never be corrupted. I have worked with him for the past two years and I can say on authority that Rev. Prof. Martey is not corrupt; he can never be corrupted.”

He went on to assert that the allegations leveled against Prof. Martey by Dr. Akyeampong were plain lies which the Church would not waste its time fighting.

“We are not prepared to engage him in any legal battle for defamation or [anything]… The Moderator has better things to do than that,” Rev. Larbi averred.

Rev. Prof. Martey, who is noted for his strong criticisms of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), in his last address to the media on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 caused a stir when he said a political party which he refused to name tried bribing him with $100,000 so he would stop being critical of that party.

He said: “The same party brought $100,000 [to bribe me]. They were lucky I did not have dogs.

“You cannot get me with corruption,” adding: “Never ever should any politician or political activist go to a pastor or minister with money in order to influence him; if you do that you’ll be in trouble.”

But his startling revelation shortly after his media interactions caused public uproar with some appointees of the NDC government daring him to name the so-called politician(s) who attempted to bribe him, or he should shut up.

However, what made matters worse was the disclaimant by the former PRO of the Church who said that his former boss lied during his press conference about the bribery allegation.

According to Dr. Osei Akyeampong: “On July 28, 2013 around 8:15 p.m., Rev. Prof. Martey invited me to the office of one of the leading opposition parties, not the party of the government. When I got there he had received the $100,000 and a V8 he claimed to have rejected. And he gave me $50,000. I am speaking on authority that he received the money.”

It would be recalled that Dr. Osei Akyeampong in 2013 was dismissed by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana over “fraud and misrepresentation of facts.”

Meanwhile some anti-corruption campaigners including Vitus Azeem have called on the security agencies in the country to invite Prof. Martey for interrogation.

According to Vitus Azeem, both the giver and the taker per the 1992 Constitution are guilty of the law.