Interpol alert an attempt by government to deceive Ghanaians – Sammy Gyamfi

The National Communication Officer for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi says the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) against Samuel Adam Fosters also known as Samuel Mahama is fabricated.

Sammy Gyamfi’s comment is based on an Interpol document dated July 10, 2020, announcing an arrest warrant for Mr Mahama in connection with his role in the Airbus bribery scandal.

He is being charged for accepting bribes to influence a public officer and acting in collaboration with a Public Officer for the Public Officer’s private gain.

But, Sammy Gyamfi reacting to the arrest warrant in interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Thursday, said the official website of the organisation does not have such red notice, hence, an attempt by government to deceive 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”.

“So this is fabricated, it is of dubious validity and we should not feed the people of this country with such information,” he stressed.

Mr Gyamfi indicated further that arrest warrant from Interpol is only issued for fugitives who are wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence; thus, Samuel Mahama has not been declared a fugitive.

“Is the subject [Mr. Mahama] of the said notice a fugitive? Has he escaped from legal custody? Mr. Gyamfi quizzed.

He restated that, “Interpol doesn’t issue red notices, based on charges, they only issue red notices for fugitives. And in this case, the said subject has not escaped lawful custody so he isn’t a fugitive and therefore cannot be a subject of a red notice of the Interpol.”

Touching on the Airbus saga, Sammy Gyamfi accused the Akufo-Addo administration of playing political gimmick with the situation; stressing that the Akufo-Addo government is desperate to accuse ‘innocent people’ with corruption at all cost.

“We have made it clear time and again that if you read this document of this Airbus matter, no government official under the Mahama government has been sighted for having taking bribes from anybody in connection with the Airbus transaction,” he added.