Mahama dares Amidu: Indict Me If You Have The ‘Balls’

Former President John Dramani Mahama has called the bluff of the Special Prosecutor, Martin Alamisi Barnes Kaiser Amidu, daring the latter to indict him on the Airbus scandal probe, if he is man enough.

Mr Mahama, who is also the leader and presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), made the daring statement after the Special Prosecutor concluded that he, Mahama, was the Government Official 1 as mentioned in the official documents of the Airbus saga in both the UK and US.

But the Special Prosecutor also indicated that the only reason he had not invited Mahama was because he was a presidential candidate, a claim Mahama has rubbished.

“The point is you say I am the leader of a political party, I say if you have a legal basis for investigating me go ahead and investigate me. There has been a DPA – Deferred Prosecution Agreement, you are not a party to it; you don’t know who are involved in it. They’ve identified some people in it. You don’t have an authenticated agreement from SFO or from whoever is involved in it, and you say I surmise that Government Official 1 is so and so. Somebody is so and so.  On what legal basis are you proceeding?” Mahama asked.

Addressing supporters of his party as part of his campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region, Mahama challenged the Special Prosecutor to be bold enough and do a report on the Airbus saga separately, and expect a manly response from him.

Mr Amidu, who had been charged by President Akufo-Addo to report on the analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment on the processes leading to the approval and request for approval on the Agyapa deal, swiftly passed a comment on the Airbus.

In the 67-page report, Mr Amidu held that his office had identified former President Mahama, who was Vice President during the time the Airbus transaction took place, as the Government Official 1, a claim which has infuriated Mr Mahama.

Mahama in responding said: “Amidu goes and presents Agyapa investigation, and I thought he was man enough. They say investigate Agyapa; present a report on Agyapa. If you’ve investigated Airbus, present a report on Airbus, but in the Agyapa report you know that it’s going to be damning of this government, you go and put one paragraph there about Airbus; nobody asked you about Airbus.”

An angry Mahama continued: “If you were man enough present Agyapa and do a report on Airbus separately, and then I’ll come as a man and answer you on Airbus. If you think that I’m indicted on Airbus, accuse me directly, but because he was a coward, and he knew that Agyapa was going to be discussed today, so he put a paragraph on Airbus to equalise the discussion; I mean what stupidity is this?” he quizzed.

Mahama added: “You’ve indicted the President’s cousin as Finance Minister, and you are afraid that you are presenting only a report on Agyapa, so in the Agyapa report, put some other report to balance the equation. I thought he was man enough.”

In his report, Amidu said this about the Airbus saga: “This Office also has warrants of arrest issued by the Courts of Ghana, and an Interpol Red Alert Notice outstanding for execution in the case of the Republic v Samuel Adam Mahama and Others (known as the Airbus SE — Ghana Bribery Scandal involving the then Government of Ghana), not to talk of documentary evidence of suspected forgeries and deceit of a public officer by the three full-blood brothers in the corruption transaction to obtain a Ghanaian passport for Samuel Adam Mahama,” Mr Amidu said, while delivering his report on the Agyapa deal.

Mr Amidu added: 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 an 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.”

The SP stressed further: “The former President has also not offered to make any voluntary statement to this Office, despite the publication of an alleged interview containing admissions purportedly made by the former President to a Daily Graphic reporter without the full voice recording, which, in the meantime, remains just hearsay.”

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