Airbus Scandal: Mahama’s Referral to OSP Was Politically Motivated – Edudzi Tamakloe

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has strongly criticized President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for referring the Airbus scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in 2020, accusing the move of being a politically expedient tactic aimed at swaying voters.

On January 31, 2020, Ghana was named as one of five countries where global aerospace giant Airbus SE allegedly engaged in bribery or promised payments to high-ranking officials in exchange for business advantages between 2009 and 2015. This was revealed by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. The scandal resulted in Airbus agreeing to a historic £3 billion settlement with authorities in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to avoid facing corporate criminal charges.

Following these revelations, President Akufo-Addo referred the matter to the OSP in February 2020 for further investigation. However, on August 8, 2024, the OSP cleared former President John Mahama of any wrongdoing in connection to the deal.

Edudzie Tamekloe, the NDC’s Head of Legal Affairs, lauded the OSP’s report and reiterated the party’s stance that the referral was a politically motivated attempt by President Akufo-Addo to gain a political advantage.

“Obviously, Ghana’s most corrupt president felt that the only way to equalize that dubious distinction that he has okayed as the mother serpent of corruption is to refer John Dramani Mahama so that while the investigation is ongoing, it gives him a political folder against the person of John Dramani Mahama,” Tamekloe stated during an interview on Eyewitness News.

He further praised the OSP, led by Kissi Agyebeng, for conducting a professional investigation that ultimately exonerated John Dramani Mahama in relation to the Airbus scandal.