A member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, John Jinapor has defended the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, for taking on the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, on the latter’s remark on the Airbus bribery scandal.
“I listened to him [Mahama], and all he said was that what happened in terms of the report was nonsense and it was the act and the right words to describe the report and that was all that it was.”
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Jinapor stated that “He [John Mahama] was referring to the action and not the man himself. The point is that what Martin Amidu did is not what he was supposed to. He was meant to do a corruption risk assessment of the Agyapa deal.”
“If he wants to do something about Airbus, let him do that separately, talk to those involved and do what is right and proper. But if you mix up the two, you make nonsense of what you are doing and that is a fact,” he added.
Agyapa report vs. Airbus scandal
Mr. Amidu in his corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa deal gave an update on his investigation on the Airbus scandal and said he is convinced John Mahama was involved in wrongdoing.
The Special Prosecutor, however, said he is holding on with investigations into Mr. Mahama’s alleged involvement in the infamous Airbus bribery scandal till after the December 7 general elections.
“This Office has established the identity of elected Government official 1 to be former President John Dramani Mahama whose brother of the full blood is Samuel Adam Foster also known as Samuel Adam Mahama. The only reason the former President has not been invited for interrogation (in spite of all threats from some of his followers and lawyers) is the fact that he got himself insurance as the presidential candidate of the other largest political party in Ghana and prudence dictated that the interrogation be held in abeyance during this election season,” Amidu said in the report.
Amidu is a coward
John Mahama who was unhappy with the report described Martin Amidu as a coward for trying to protect the government from the controversy surrounding the Agyapa Royalties deal.
Mr. Mahama accused the Special Prosecutor of deliberately mentioning his name and the Airbus scandal in the Agyapa report in a bid to equalize wrongdoing.
Addressing some students at the University of Ghana as part of his campaign of the Greater Accra Region, the former President said Martin Amidu’s move was only a diversionary tactic.
“If you think I have been indicted on the Airbus scandal, accuse me directly. But because he is a coward and knew the Agyapa royalties deal will be discussed today, he chipped in a paragraph on Airbus to equalize the discussion,” he added.
