Airbus Scandal: Avail for Scrutiny too – Mahama to Akufo-Addo and Bawumia

The Office of former President John Dramani Mahama has challenged the leadership of the current administration to make themselves available for investigations after the leader of the opposition party was cleared of wrongdoing by the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the infamous Airbus Scandal.

This was in response to the “satisfying” report of the OSP published on Thursday, August 8, 2024.

It posited that the scrutiny is a form of accountability.

“President Mahama has always made himself available for any investigation. He has consistently stated that he has nothing to hide and has been ready to cooperate fully with any inquiry.

“In this spirit, we extend the same challenge to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and President Akufo-Addo to subject themselves to equal scrutiny and transparency as we strive for accountability in our leadership,” it said in a statement.

The Office also welcomed the report, noting it affirmed the integrity, honesty and transparency within whose confines Mr Mahama led the country.

“The Office of HE John Dramani Mahama wishes to express profound satisfaction with the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) ruling, which exonerates the former president from allegations in the Airbus ‘scandal’.”

According to the Office, the ruling New Patriotic Party unsuccessfully sought to score political points from this scandal.

“The facts of this case have been available, and the public has observed the machinations behind the scenes— including the disingenuous attempts by the current ruling government to exploit this matter for political gain.

“Despite the UK’s Serious Fraud Office clarifying that Mahama’s brother and others involved had no case to answer, the ruling government persisted in framing this scandal as a tool for political advantage. We also note the OSP’s revelation that President Nana Akufo-Addo personally requested that President Mahama be investigated. This casts an even darker shadow on the motives behind the initial accusations, which were planted to tarnish the reputation of an innocent man.”

Meanwhile, some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have opposed the report as flawed.

The OSP after its probe into the allegations of bribery that implicated the former President and his brother, Samuel Foster Adam in the purchase of three military aircrafts form Airbus SE from 2011 to 2015, exonerated them of all accusations.

According to Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, though Airbus’ circumvented payment to Foster and his associates- for their intermediary services in the purchase of three aircrafts by Ghana- were wrong it does not amount to payment of bribe in the reckoning of Ghanaian law.

Additionally, there exists no evidence that Samuel Mahama and his associates acted as conduits of bribery between the employees of Airbus and former President Mahama, neither did they receive payments from Airbus with the intention of bribing the former President or any other public official.

It also found no evidence that Mahama was paid bribes by Samuel in respect of military transport aircraft from Airbus nor did any evidence point to the claims that the Former President was induced to favour Airbus in respect of the purchase.

Mr Agyebeng believes there was nothing remarkable about the transaction and only gained the wide attention of the UK and US authorities due to the blood relations between the former President and Samuel- a member of the intermediary.