John Mahama fingered in British newspaper over Airbus scandal

Former President John Dramani Mahama has been reported by the British media as being complicit in the £5million Airbus bribery scandal.

The Sun newspaper, in its latest edition on Tuesday, also reports that an international arrest warrant has been issued by Ghanaian authorities for the arrest of four people, including John Mahama’s brother for questioning.

The four British nationals, including former President Mahama’s brother, are wanted by Ghanaian authorities for questioning for their roles in allegedly bribing Ghanaian government officials to the tune of £5million.

The four, allegedly led by the former President’s brother, played the role of middlemen to facilitate the £50 million sale of three Airbus C-295 military planes to Ghana.

The Sun reported that former President Mahama allegedly had links with the middlemen who facilitated the payments of bribes to key government officials when he was Vice President.

“Former Ghana president John Dramani Mahama is accused of having links to a corrupt network which received kickbacks during the contract process,” reported the Sun.

Part of the wanted four alongside the former President’s brother is former British actor Phil Middlemiss, who is alleged to be a key member the corrupt network.

Middlemiss, a close friend of John Mahama’s brother, is said to have temporarily relocated to Ghana to play his middleman role with his team for the sale of the militry aircraft.

Background 

A collaborative investigation by the UK, USA and France revealed that aeroplane manufactures Airbus, used middlemen to kickbacks bribes to Ghanaian government officials for the sale of the over £50million.

Following the exposure of the scandal, Airbus agreed to pay a £3 billion fine for the use of middlemen to sell planes.

Following the naming and involvement of former high-ranking former Ghanaian officials in the scandal, Ghana’s Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu launched further investigations into the matter in February.

The Special Prosecutor recently announced he had summoned four people for questioning.

He released their passport details online to aid the international arrest warrant.

The British media has taken a special interest in the high-profile, international bribery scandal following the involvement of Middlemiss.

The sudden opulent life of Middlemiss, who filed for bankruptcy in 2012, has raised eyebrows and the Sun report subtly linked his post-bankruptcy opulent status to the scandal.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com