Samuel Adam Foster Mahama
The request to have International Police Organization (Interpol) arrest Samuel Adam Mahama, brother of ex-President John Dramani Mahama, in connection with the Airbus SE four million Euro bribery scandal, is causing unease in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Although it was at the instance of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) headed by Martin Amidu that the alert was being issued, the NDC is insisting that the move was a veiled yet direct attack on former President Mahama by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
Since the arrest warrant was issued last week, the NDC leaders had been berating the NPP over what they said was an attempt to impugn the integrity of the former President ahead of the 2020 general election in December.
Police Statement
A police statement signed by DSP Juliana Obeng, Head of Public Affairs of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), confirmed that the OSP had made the request to raise a “Red Notice” through the Interpol for the arrest of the ex-President’s younger brother together with his accomplices, namely Sarah Furneaux, Sarah Leanne Davis and Philip Sean Middlemiss, who were all believed to be British.
“Following a request by the Office of the Special Prosecutor through the Criminal Investigation Department to the Interpol General Secretariat, the latter has issued a Red Notice in respect of the following individuals – Samuel Adam Foster, alias Adam Mahama, Philip Sean Middlemiss, Leanne Sarah Davis and Sarah Furneaux,” the statement had said.
It added that “the above mentioned individuals have been published on the Interpol Red Notice in connection with the Airbus scandal being handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.”
Four Fugitives
The four individuals are “fugitives wanted for prosecution” for their alleged roles in accepting and paying €3,909,756 as bribe on behalf of Airbus SE to some key Ghanaian public officials from 2009 to 2015.”
On Friday, July 10, 2020, the Interpol published a Red Notice on its public website requesting law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest the four individuals, pending their extradition to Ghana.
There is no expiry date of the Red Notice or arrest warrant issued to track down the four individuals.
According to the summary of facts of the case as set out in the Red Notice, between 2009 and 2015, Airbus SE engaged Mr. Mahama, brother of former President John Dramani Mahama, and Mr. Middlemiss to accept and pay €3.9 million as bribe to some Ghanaian public officials to approve the sale of three C-295 military aircraft to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
Concealing Evidence
The notice said further that the suspects, Mr. Mahama and Mr. Middlemiss, together with their accomplices, Ms. Davis and Ms. Furneaux, in order to conceal and facilitate the bribery payment, incorporated Deedum Ltd. Ghana, Deedum Ltd. UK and Furneaux Ltd UK to consult on behalf of Airbus SE.
“The suspects and their accomplices succeeded in using the companies and intermediaries to receive the bribe from Airbus SE. Subsequently, the suspects and their accomplices paid bribes to key public officials to influence their decision to purchase three aircraft on behalf of Ghana,” the notice added.
Indeed, the facts of the case have established that the €3.9 million bribe money was offered by the suspects and their accomplices “to influence and induce public officials in Ghana in their decision-making, which gave Airbus SE an overbearing and overriding advantage in the sale of the three aircraft to the Government of Ghana.”
NDC Fights Back
Former President Mahama’s spokesperson, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, went overdrive over the weekend, saying that the Akufo-Addo administration is trying to ‘witch-hunt’ the NDC flagbearer in the Airbus issue.
She even went to the extent of saying that Mr. Amidu was being used by the NPP for their political expediency.
She said without any equivocation that it was Mr. Mahama who even welcomed the move by the current government to have the Special Prosecutor investigate the matter and insisted that the NPP was using the Airbus issue to attack the personality of Mr. Mahama because, according to her, the NDC flagbearer was gaining grounds ahead of the election.
She alleged that there were other related actions of corruption undertaken by the current administration and yet few had gone to the OSP and queried how a Red Notice could be given for someone who was not even a fugitive.
Red Herring
Former Health Minister Alex P. Segbefia fired that the Interpol Red Notice was nothing but a red herring, and said it was a calculated plot by the Akufo-Addo administration to embarrass the brother of the main suspect, Mr. Mahama.
“This so-called arrest warrant is a red herring,” Mr. Segbefia said in a statement, adding, “It is an extension of their game plan to embarrass President John Mahama because of the upcoming elections.”
He said, “A Red Notice is usually issued against a criminal fugitive on the run who seeks actively to evade justice,” adding, “It is a notice published by Interpol to law enforcement agents across the world requesting them to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending his extradition.”
He said that “one needs to bear in mind that the entire hullabaloo about Airbus emanated from the UK courts, which had dealt with it and settled it. And yet, even though he and the other persons named in the Red Notice are British nationals, the UK government has not thought it fit to prefer any charges against them.”
No Flight Risk
“The ex-President’s brother”, Mr. Segbefia insisted, “is not considered a flight-risk, so no restrictions have been imposed on him and he has not been asked to hand over his passport. Why would the UK government, based on the same facts as are narrated in the Red Notice, arrest him for Ghana government?
“Besides, Ghana has an extradition treaty with the UK. It also has a Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement with the UK, so why publish Red Notice when the Ghana government can formally ask for his extradition through regular channels?”
Mr. Segbefia said the Special Prosecutor “must be aware that it is forlorn hope that the UK government would extradite the three named persons,” adding “it is interesting how recently, the scurrilous story found its way onto the front pages of the controversial Sun newspaper in the UK. Individuals behind that publication are suspected to be closely tied to the family of Akufo-Addo.”
No Alert
NDC Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi went to the extent of claiming that checks revealed that the Red Notice could not be found on the official website of the Interpol and that it was an attempt by the government to deceive the people.
“So this is fabricated, it is of dubious validity and we should not feed the people of this country with such information. The arrest warrant from Interpol is only issued for fugitives who are wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence; thus, Mr. Mahama has not been declared a fugitive.
“Is the subject, Mr. Mahama, of the said notice a fugitive? Has he escaped from legal custody? Interpol does not issue red notices based on charges; they only issue red notices for fugitives. In this case, the said subject has not escaped lawful custody so he is not a fugitive and cannot be a subject of a Red Notice of the Interpol,” Sammy Gyamfi claimed.
“We have made it clear, time and again, if you read the document of the Airbus issue, no government official under the former President John Mahama-led administration has been sighted for taking bribes from anybody in connection with the Airbus transaction,” he stressed.
By Ernest Kofi Adu