“Toothless Bulldog” Bares Teeth At Police In Fizzling Airbus Scandal

The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has taken a swipe at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and described as “needless” their recent statement seeking to attribute the controversial reports of Interpol issuing a red alert for the arrest of the infamous Airbus culprits.

Reports widely circulated last week that the Interpol had issued a Red Alert for the arrest of the junior brother of ex-President John Dramani Mahama (Samuel “Foster” Mahama) cited in the alleged US$ 5 million Airbus bribery scandal to secure contracts to supply military aircraft to Ghana around 2011.

After it turned out that there was no record of the alleged red alert, the Police administration was forced to issue a statement seeking to clarify the controversy and explaining that what was regarded as a red alert was, in fact, a request to Interpol from the office of the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.

According to Martin Amidu in a long statement issued today, the action of the police was extraordinary and unusual.

The statement published on the website of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, today Thursday, July 23, 2020, clarified that: “On 17th July 200, it came to the notice of the SP that the Police/CID had usually gone out of its way to issue a news release to the media dated 16th July 2019 on the publication of Interpol Red Notice” informing the public that the Red Notice was issued at the behest of this Office. This office as an independent and active agency took the view that the publication made in its behalf was unusual, extraordinary, needless and gratuitous as every Interpol red notice states its content the law enforcement agency at whose behest it is issued.”

Martin Amidu also described some young legal practitioners, whom he alleges attacked his personality and called the red notice fake, as unethical lawyers.

Martin Amidu expressed shock to “learn later and read online that a bunch of young, inexperienced and unethical lawyers were referring to the Red Notices as fake while at the same time heaping insults and attributing unwarranted motives to the person and character of the SP for doing his work as the Special Prosecutor to fight provable corruption.”

On January 31, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office cited Ghana as one of five countries that were greased by juicy Airbus bribes in a scandal that has resulted in Airbus entering a record £3 billion settlement in France, the United Kingdom and the United States to avoid corporate criminal charges.

When cornered, Airbus reportedly claims to have paid bribes totally €5 million to highly placed government officials in Ghana between 2011 and 2015 through it’s agents to supply military-grade aircraft in what the British courts described as “grave criminality”.

The UK’s Crown Court at Southwark late January issued a lengthy judgment that gave tell-tale clues to specific names involved in the Airbus scandal in Ghana. The judgment used coded messages to describe the individuals, including “important government official”, “Intermediary 5”, “Intermediary 8”.

The said payment was reportedly intended to induce or reward “improper favour” by Government Official 1 towards Airbus.

In November 2011, Ghana took delivery of the first of the aircraft involved in the scandal. They are Airbus C295 military transporters and the cost Ghanaian taxpayers over US$105 million.