US Flagged Plane: Kofi Jumah wants Mahama investigated

Former Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, has called on the Government of Ghana to make elucidations on the issues regarding President John Mahama's brother and the alleged unauthorized landing of a US jet in Iran.

A US investigative body has begun investigations into a U.S. registered Bombardier Challenger, N604EP, exhibiting a small US flag, linked to Ibrahim Mahama, junior brother of President John Dramani Mahama, and his company Engineers & Planners (E&P).

According to the Iranian authorities, "the plane’s passengers included a high-ranking Ghanaian delegation, comprised of that country’s officials and led by a brother of Ghana’s president.”

The jet is reported to have carried a Ghanaian business delegation to Mehrabab Airport in Tehran last Tuesday without approval or prior notification of the US authorities.

Though the firm operating the plane, E&P, has refuted claims it breached any international aviation rules by flying the plane to Iran, which happens to be under strict economic sanctions, the US seems ready to visit the country with sanctions should Ghana be found in violation of any Western sanctions on Iran.

On the flipside, President John Mahama's presence at the various places the plane is said to have been spotted has also raised eyebrows.

The US jet was reportedly spotted leaving an airport in Zurich and also departing from a London airport to Ghana last October.

Addressing the issue on UTV's morning show Adekye Nsroma, Kofi Jumah expressed disgust at the findings relating to the aircraft in question.

According to him, President Mahama's involvement in the case courts controversy and, therefore, called for an inquiry into the issue.

He insisted that the President should be investigated to find out why he was spotted in all the places the plane is reported to have landed before making a final destination on the Iranian soil. He also called on the parties involved to disclose the topnotch business delegation that accompanied the flight and the rationale behind the plane's landing in Iran, a country under severe economic restrictions by the Western world.