Mahama must shut-up and speak on Airbus scandal

Every Ghanaian is under pressure with the 2020 presidential and legislative elections around the corner with all its Wahala. But I am under no illusion that the temperature of Mr. John Dramani Mahama must be reaching boiling point.

Virtually financing the entire National Democratic Congress campaign from his huge fortune, estimated by Forbes Magazine to be US$900 million, Mr. John Dramani’s presidential return dream is in already in tatters, following various research findings predicting a landslide victory for the incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

On top of these Wahala, horribly young women have been fighting in the open in what has become a long-running soap opera featuring ‘Papa No’. Many are those pointing to his name.  With all these problems competing for attention as the former President hit the campaign trail, Mr. Mahama woke up yesterday to be told that he is a subject of enquiry by the Special Prosecutor in the infamous US$5m bribery Airbus scandal.

It is now official that Mr. John Dramani Mahama, who has been on suspicion for all this while, is the ubiquitous Government Official 1 in the Airbus bribery scandal, and should hold himself in readiness to account for his role after, as expected, he flops miserably in the December 2020 polls.

I have all along held the view that the NDC presidential candidate does not deserve to be on the presidential ballot in the first place.

On top of all these, there is wide-spread speculation that the former head of state’s matrimonial home is on fire. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the former First Lady might not be relating to the husband in Mr.  Mahama’s expensive home, not far from the new Military Cemetery at Teshie, in Accra.

According to Mr. Martin Amidu, Special Prosecutor, his office has been investigating the Airbus scandal since it was referred to him by the President. The indictment papers include evidence that the former President is the Government Official 1 referred to in Southwark Crown Court documents of South London.

According to Mr. Amidu, the NDC presidential candidate has not been invited to answer for his role in the scandal that shamed the country in the comity of nations, only because the former President is in the contest for the presidency in the 2020 polls. In an official report to the President on the scandal, Mr. Amidu said his office has already prepared the warrant of arrest.

“This office also has the warrant of arrest issued by Courts of Ghana and Interpol Red Alert Notice outstanding for execution in the case of the Republic Vrs. Samuel Adam Mahama and others, known as the Airbus SE- Ghana Bribery Scandal involving the then Government of Ghana, not to talk of documented evidence of suspected forgeries and deceit of public officer by the three full-blooded brothers in the corruption transaction to obtain a Ghanaian passport for Samuel Adam Mahama.

“This office has established the identity of 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 Special Prosecutor explained that the only reason the former President had not been invited to clear his name was that he is standing as a presidential candi8date for the largest opposition party, the NDC.

Responding to the indictment in an interview with Starr FM, an Accra radio station, Mr. Mahama questioned the rationale behind his indictment, and his identification as Government Official 1.

“I am disappointed in Martin Amidu for putting that paragraph in his report to equalise things:  No financial benefit accrued to me. Not a single dollar. Legally, he has not a single basis to continue with this investigation. He should show us what investigation he has done? He should tell us who he has spoken to?” the former head of state fumed.

I am not the Special Prosecutor. I cannot therefore hold any brief for him. I am not a lawyer either. My layman knowledge of this particular law is simple. I do not believe one ought to gain US$100 million from a deal to be involved.

The issue here is that as Vice-President and later as President, Mr. John Dramani Mahama used his influence to get his brother sell aircraft to Ghana, when the intermediary knew next to nothing about the airline industry, for which Airbus paid he and his three accomplices a whopping US$5 million.

In other words, Mr. John Dramani Mahama negotiated with his brother to buy aircraft for this country, in the process of which the brother benefitted hugely. Whether or not the former President took his cut is not my problem at the moment.

My worry is that Mr. Mahama used his huge leverage as head of state to influence the system for his brother to loot money off the state, and he has a duty to answer for that.

There is also the small matter of forgery of documents in the acquisition of a Ghanaian passport for the brother. As the immediate past head of state of this republic, Mr. John Dramani Mahama must answer for the forgery involved.

When Mr. Mahama granted an interview to the Daily Graphic a while ago over this bribery scandal, read what he told this country’s leading newspaper: “Let me state without equivocation that no financial benefit accrued to me. Neither was there any form of inducement in the purchase of the aircraft,” he said.

“My singular motivation was to equip and re-tool the Ghana Armed Forces in a manner that would make the discharge of their duties in a manner that would make the discharge of their national and international roles efficient and less cumbersome and for all the sacrifices that our men and women make, they do not deserve less.”

I am afraid this submission is a bit suspect, given the information available. I am inclined to hold that it is an after-thought thrown-in by the former President to save his face. Indictment proceedings in the Southwark Crown Court in London established that Samuel Adam Mahama, the former President’s brother, and his cohorts had no idea about the airline industry when they were engaged. And that Mr. Mahama’s brother’s engagement was influenced by the family ties he has with the then Vice-President and later Head of State of Ghana.

I could vouch that there are several senior personnel in the Ghana Air Force who could have been engaged to do proper diligence on the deal. The NDC presidential candidate should not throw dust into our eyes by stating that he was motivated merely by the need to re-tool the Ghana Air Force.

I am inclined to believe that the whole idea was cooked at the seat of government to find some cheap money for the brother, who was apparently hustling in Britain. Having made this assertion, I cannot be sure whether or not the former President benefitted from the deal. But the fact that Mr. Mahama, who was the sitting President at the time, was prepared to gamble the safety of the aircraft purchased by the state through the intermediary role of his brother who knew next to nothing about the airline industry, suggests to me that a lot was at stake for the former President in the scandal-soaked Airbus scam.

His outburst following the Special Prosecutor’s submission yesterday seems to indicate to me that there is more to the scandal than the public has been told.

The former President is displeased that the Special Prosecutor has addressed the ubiquitous Agyapa Deal and the Airbus Scandal in the same epistle from the Special Prosecutor to the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, claiming nobody asked Mr. Amidu about Airbus.

“If you (Amidu) were man enough, present Agyapa and do a report on Airbus separately. And I will come as a man and answer you on Airbus. If you think I’m indicted in Airbus, accuse me directly. But because he is a coward, and he knew they were going to discuss Agyapa, he put a paragraph on Airbus to equalise the discussion. I mean what stupidity is this?”

I do not believe the last sentence reveals anything other than frustration on the part of the former President. The fact of the matter is that the Airbus scandal has been too long in resolving. I have never been too pleased with the Special Prosecutor for not resolving this sordid dead all this while.

I do not believe there is anything wrong with the Special Prosecutor addressing the issue with the kind of explanation he gave. The Airbus scandal shamed all Ghana in the international community. As Vice-President, and later head of state of this republic, Mr. Mahama played an active role in the events leading to the shaming of this country in the international community.

Whether the former President took a chunk of the bribery money or never benefitted financially, is not the issue. Mr. Mahama’s handiwork was all over the scandal. He must keep quiet and answer to his role.

I shall return!

Ebo Quansah in Accra

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