Interpol is alleged to have issued arrest warrant for Adam Mahama
The never-ending Airbus scandal has found its way back into media discussions following the alleged issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for Samuel Adam Mahama, a brother of former president John Dramani Mahama.
News reports on Thursday stated that Interpol was on the heels of Adam Mahama for allegedly taking bribes and also influencing public officers.
Mahama is among four others who have been accused of various foul roles in Airbus’ sale of three C-295 military aircrafts to Ghana.
At the heart of the current brouhaha is the authenticity of the alert from Interpol.
The National Democratic Congress of which John Mahama is the flagbearer for the 2020 Elections have poopooed the supposed statement from Interpol, labelling it as another attempt by the government to tarnish the image of their candidate and distract the attention of Ghanaians from happenings in the country.
In the wisdom of Sammy Gyamfi, Communications Director of the NDC the alert is a fabrication by the government aimed at deceiving Ghanaians.
“My checks reveal the red notice cannot be found on the official website of the Organisation, therefore, it is an attempt by government to deceive Ghanaians," he asserted.
He reiterated that “every red notice alert which is issued by Interpol can be located on their website. So, if the subjects’ [Samuel Mahama’s] control number cannot be found on their website, then it means the notice is not from Interpol”.
A member of the NDC’s legal team Abraham Amaliba described the document as a hoax and must be treated with a pinch of salt.
“It is issued for people who run away from the criminal justice system from a country and I am asking a simple question has Adam run away from the system? So, I am attacking the procedure and I am saying that it is wrong in law, it is not done that way.
“Checks have revealed that this alert is not on the website, all red alerts are on the website…and so I am telling you that it is improper, it is wrong, it is a hoax and it is meant to please the government of the day to look as if president Mahama benefited from whatever is alleged that Adam Mahama engaged in.
Members of the ruling NPP have vouched for the credibility of the supposed alert which according to them is another proof of the deep-rooted corruption that happened under the erstwhile Mahama administration.
Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament for Assin South believes that the order is a step in the right direction.
“I must say that this action is a very important and creditable step in the fight against corruption and justifying the calls that I earlier made that the Parliament of Ghana as an institution ought to show more interest in the persons so named in the judicial pronouncement; Intermediary 1, Government official 1 and such other people that were mentioned.”
“We recall that this was a matter that brought international embarrassment in no mean scale to the name of Ghana as a country together with five other countries that were named in the scandal. This was a scandal that warranted the confession of Airbus and they conceded to the issues raised and actually accepted to pay a fine of three billion dollars, and this is not a fine that can be downplayed.”
The Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service claims the move by Interpol was triggered by the office of the Special Prosecutor.
The CID in a statement said “following a request by the Office of the Special Prosecutor through the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to the Interpol Secretariat, the latter has issued a Red Notice of the following individuals.”
Meanwhile checks by www.ghanaweb.com reveal that no warrant, alert or order for the arrest of Adam Mahama has been issued.
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