Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has stated that there is no evidence to suggest former President John Dramani Mahama received any bribes in the Airbus scandal, despite confirming that Mahama was the individual referred to as “Government Official 1” in the UK court and “Individual 1” in the US court.
Kissi Agyebeng’s conclusion comes after a four-year investigation by his office.
Addressing the media in Accra, he explained that the investigation and the identification of those involved were necessary due to the significant public interest in the case.
“The individual described as Government Official One by the UK court and Individual One by the US court is John Dramani Mahama. He is a citizen of Ghana, and he served as the Vice President of Ghana from January 7, 2009, to 2012, and as President of Ghana from 2012 to January 7, 2017. His tenure as Vice President coincided with the timeframe of the UK and US investigations into the first Airbus campaign for the sale of two C295 aircraft to Ghana. His term as President occurred during the UK-US investigation of the second Airbus campaign for the sale of one C295 aircraft to Ghana,” Agyebeng stated.
Ghana is one of five countries where Airbus paid or attempted to pay millions in bribes to secure contracts, leading to a £5 billion fine by a British court. Airbus admitted to using secret agents to bribe foreign officials, including those in Ghana, for high-value contracts.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) identified six key actors in the Ghana scandal:
- Government Official 1 (a high-ranking, elected official),
- Intermediary 5 (a British national and close relative of Government Official 1),
- Company D (a corporate entity for Intermediary 5),
- Intermediary 6 (a British national and associate of Intermediary 5),
- Intermediary 7 (another British associate of Intermediary 5),
- Intermediary 8 (a Spanish company acting as a front for Intermediary 5).
Additionally, British citizens Philip Sean Middlemiss, Sarah Davis, and Sarah Furneaux were also implicated in the scandal for their roles in facilitating these bribes.
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