The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has described Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu as a coward for trying to protect the government from the controversy surrounding the Agyapa Royalties deal.
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.
Responding to this, 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 have investigated Airbus, present a report on Airbus. Since you know the Agyapa report will be damning on the government, you chipped in a paragraph on Airbus. Nobody asked you about Airbus. If you were man enough, present two separate reports on the Agyapa Royalty deal and the Airbus scandal [so I can respond to you].”
“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 equalise the discussion,” he added.
Airbus bribery scandal
On January 31, Ghana was cited as one of five countries in which the global aerospace group, Airbus SE, allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favors between 2009 and 2015, according to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.
The scandal caused a political storm in Ghana over accusations of Airbus payments to a relative of a government official in connection with the purchase of military planes.
The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) stated that the said agent had no aerospace experience, having previously worked in football merchandising and as a facilities manager.
It did not say what the agent, who had been helped by two unnamed British television actors, did with the money.
However, the governing New Patriotic Party, (NPP) alleged that the said government official 1 is former President John Dramani Mahama.
President Akufo-Addo subsequently directed the Special Prosecutor to probe the scandal.
