Former President John Mahama
More than 48 hours after the Airbus SE bribery scandal broke out, former President John Mahama, whose government dealt with the global aircraft manufacturing giant, is yet to respond to the findings of damning separate investigations in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).
The damages in the US court against Airbus SE with Case No.: 1:20-cr-00021 (TFH) is being assessed after the historic judgment at the District of Columbia Court, but at the UK Crown Court of Southwark, London, Airbus SE has been fined a record £3 billion in penalties after admitting it had paid huge bribes on an “endemic” basis to land contracts in 20 countries, including Ghana.
UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in documents sent to court quoted at least 5 million Euros as payment of kickbacks to a top Ghanaian official through an intermediary who is a close relative of “a high ranking elected Ghanaian government official” during the Mahama administration.
NPP’s Daring Move
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has gone overdrive and is claiming that Mr. Mahama is the person that investigations in the UK and the US had revealed to have taken bribes in respect of the sale of aircraft to Ghana by Airbus SE.
They have even dared him to come out and clear the air but unusual of him, the former President has gone silent ever since, not even his characteristic social media posts.
Clear View
In the UK Crown Court documents, the SFO names the elected NDC guru as ‘Government Official 1’ and that powerful official is the same person being referred to as ‘Individual 1’ in the US court documents.
In the same vein ‘Intermediary 5’ in the UK court documents, who has been described as the brother of the powerful elected official in Ghana, is the same person being referred to as ‘Consultant 4’ by the US authorities.
Direct Contacts
Per the two documents, Government Official 1, who the NPP insists is Mr. Mahama, was not just content with having Intermediary 5 (his brother) handle his alleged bribe-collection arrangements.
According to the documents, ‘Government Official 1’ was in “direct repeated contact with senior Airbus SE executives.”
President Akufo-Addo has already referred the raging Airbus bribery scandal to the Special Prosecutor, Martin A. B. K. Amidu, for investigations and possible prosecution.
A statement by the Director of Communications at the Presidency (Jubilee House), Eugene Arhin, said, “President Akufo-Addo has taken notice of the judgment and its implications, and has referred it to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to collaborate with its UK counterparts to conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the said scandal and to take the necessary legal action against any such official as required by Ghanaian law.”
NPP Intensity
The NPP said the case against Mr. Mahama is beyond what it called ‘salvation’ and said that notwithstanding the referral to the OSP, “it is necessary that the former President now Candidate John Dramani Mahama responds directly to the issue himself.”
“Candidate Mahama is no stranger to speaking to the international community. He has been known to assemble diplomats even if he has nothing to say except lies as demonstrated in the false tapes saga of Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency matters. The NPP calls on Candidate Mahama to tell the whole nation what he knows about GO1 and the processes leading to the purchase of the aircraft from Airbus SE.”
NPP Communications Director Yaw Buabeng Asamoa, addressing a news conference on Monday, said, “The serious nature and processes involved in the accusations demand immediate action to remove any stains to the name and reputation of the Republic of Ghana.”
Key Decision Maker
According to the NPP, “Airbus SE, in seeking to sell Ghana three military transport planes from 2009 to 2015, actively engaged GO1, further described as the “key decision maker” in the purchase of aircraft by the then Government of Ghana. Though the first deal for two planes was concluded in 2011, the elected government official could not have been the late President Mills (RIP) because the evidence identifies a ‘Go-Between’, who is said to be a close relative of GO1.”
“The ‘Go-Between’ referred to as Intermediary 5 (I5) in the court papers is further identified as a UK national born in Ghana. I5 is said to have migrated to the United Kingdom as a young child and thereafter lost touch with his Ghanaian family until the late 1990s.”
My First Coup D’état
“According to President Mahama’s account of his sibling in his book, ‘My First Coup D’état’, the profile of I5 appears to fit perfectly that of the long lost and found brother. Having been found, he conveniently surfaces to be the preferred Business Partner (BP) of Airbus in its deal with the Government of Ghana through GO1.”
The NPP is insisting that the companies used to receive the bribe money were named and the shareholder who is very close to the former President has also been named.
“Document falsification, kickbacks, lies and overpayments is what the Airbus scandal is all about. And it appears John Mahama is deeply involved. Significantly, this is just one of Mahama’s corruption scandals, where it is alleged that he personally leads the negotiations and for his close associate to execute on his behalf and collect the bribes.”
Tainted Candidate
The NPP said, “In the face of these facts, it is very necessary for Candidate Mahama to come out and be heard publicly. He cannot continue to hide behind others. Of course, we are all aware that he hates answering questions about corruption. He would like to find out if the question is being asked as a former President, or as a Candidate of the NDC, or as a Human Being. But he must answer because, allegedly, all fingers point to him and one of his brothers.”
Previous Incidents
“This is not the first time a court has boldly declared the Mahama regime an official ‘kleptocracy’. This is a UK court. It confirms what the Ghanaian Supreme Court declared when it said the then government of John Mahama was in government to ‘create, loot and share’ public resources.”
“The nation has had major issues of corruption and important allegations made against John Mahama personally in his time at the helm of government. He was personally involved in the Ford bribery scandal and the Armajaro issues, another foreign UK matter. Indeed, as referred to already, he struggled to even answer the BBC question whether or not he had accepted a bribe before,” the NPP fired.
Runaway NDC
NDC General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, on radio yesterday, declined to comment on the Airbus SE bribery scandal and instead preferred to talk about the NDC’s demonstration against the compilation of the new voters’ register.
He said the Airbus issue had been referred to the Special Prosecutor by the President and, therefore, Ghanaians should allow Mr. Amidu to investigate the matter.
By I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr.