National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has asserted that former President John Mahama remains squeaky clean with unblemished integrity, even seven and a half years after leaving office.

Mr Gyamfi described Mahama as the incorruptible leader that Ghana needs to effectively combat corruption.

His remarks, shared in a Facebook post, were in response to Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng's announcement that there is no evidence to suggest 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.

"Lies, they say, have a short life span. And vindication, they say, is in the womb of time. Once again, H.E. John Dramani Mahama has been vindicated as the Office of Special Prosecutor has exonerated him of any wrongdoing in the Airbus saga," Gyamfi stated.

He further criticized what he termed the "evil smear agenda" by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, claiming their efforts to tarnish Mahama's reputation have failed.

Background

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:

1.      Government Official 1 (a high-ranking, elected official),

2.      Intermediary 5 (a British national and close relative of Government Official 1),

3.      Company D (a corporate entity for Intermediary 5),

4.      Intermediary 6 (a British national and associate of Intermediary 5),

5.      Intermediary 7 (another British associate of Intermediary 5),

6.      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.