The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has concluded its investigations on the Airbus scandal.
Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng is briefing the media on the Office’s findings.
About the Airbus Scandal:
Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, was accused of paying bribes in Ghana during the sale of three military aircraft.
The aerospace company acknowledged hiring the brother of a prominent Ghanaian official as its consultant for the sale of the aircraft to the country.
Additionally, Airbus admitted to making payments to the consultant through a third party after its Compliance Unit raised concerns about the close relationship between the consultant and the senior Ghanaian official, who played a significant role in the military aircraft purchase.
Former President John Dramani Mahama was among the government officials implicated in the scandal, with former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu suggesting that the label “Government Official One” in the scandal referred to the former president.
In a communication during his tenure as Special Prosecutor, Amidu disclosed how John Mahama allegedly leveraged his position to secure a Ghanaian passport for his brother, Samuel Adam Mahama.
Martin Amidu said, “Amongst other reasons for the letter to the said Ministry, Samuel Adam Mahama’s elder brother of full blood, who without a doubt and the evidence available to this Office answers to the description of the elected Government Official 1, allegedly granted a denial interview to the Daily Graphic which published the same on June 20, 2020, fortunately containing suspected admissions that he is the elected Government Official 1 referred to in the UK judgement.
“Serving appointees of this government have been unable to obtain the voice recording of this interview to enable the Office to confront the former president with his own admissions in the interview as answering to the description of the brother of Samuel Adam Mahama as Intermediary 5.”
John Mahama, however, refuted the allegations and urged Martin Amidu, who was serving as Special Prosecutor at the time, to prosecute him if he was indeed the individual referred to as Government Official One.