Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that the report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that found no evidence of wrongdoing on his part in the Airbus issue is a pleasant vindication for him.
He says no allegation of corruption including the Airbus ‘scandal” has been proven against him for more than seven years after leaving office.
“We in the NDC do not place ourselves above society, we are humble and honest enough to submit ourselves to investigative bodies if a basis for it arises. Relatedly, I have been out of office for more than 7 years and several months, and no allegation of wrongdoing has been proven against me including the baseless Airbus brouhaha that this government attempted to clothe me with.
“Once again today I say it is a pleasant feeling to stand vindicated,” the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said when he delivered a lecture at the 10th anniversary of the death of PV Obeng in Kumasi on Friday, August 9.
The OSP after its investigations in the Airbus scandal case disclosed that John Mahama was ‘Government Official One’ in the Airbus SE case.
John Dramani Mahama, a former President and now flag bearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was Vice President at the time the incident happened.
At the time, Ghanaian troops were said to have relied heavily on civilian flights for their movements and needed military aircraft to correct this anomaly. Despite opposition criticisms, the government went ahead with the purchase agreements.
Such an agreement – (DPA) – requires a seal of Judicial approval to become lawful and may even allow the offending institution to avoid prosecution entirely.
The court documents did not mention any names but the timeframe stated in the judgement covered some periods of the Mills-Mahama era.
The DPA does not mean the Airbus and its officials are immune from prosecution for the alleged crimes.
Such a move is likely to include the intermediaries in Ghana and related individuals. In such a case, the SFO may rely on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) provisions under English law to mount the relevant charges.
Source: 3news.com
