The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dismissed claims that former President John Mahama’s role in the Airbus negotiations constituted a conflict of interest, even though the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has exonerated him from any wrongdoing in the infamous Airbus scandal.
Speaking on JoyNews on Friday, August 9, 2024, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, detailed the specific role that his party’s flagbearer played during the negotiations for the purchase of the aircrafts for the Ghana Air Force.
According to him, former President Mahama’s involvement in the deal does not constitute a conflict of interest. He referenced Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng’s report, which did not mention any conflict of interest involving Mahama.
Mr. Gyamfi further stated that the negotiations began in August 2008 under the administration of former President John Kufuor. However, no deal was reached before Mr. Kufuor left office in January 2009.
He continued “The decision was taken sometime in August 2008 when Kufour and the NPP were in office. For government to assist the Ghana Air Force to replace their Fokker F27 aircraft which they used for peace keeping missions, which according to the Air Force, was in a bad state. So that conversation started in August 2008, and there was a proposal for Ghana to buy what is called Spartan C27 aircraft with a loan or grant from the Americans.”
“So, Kufour left office, Atta Mills became President and his Vice President was John Mahama. And you know that by convention, the Vice President is the Chairman of the Armed Forces’ Council, and under the Armed Forces, we have the Air Force and this matter came before him.
“When we took office, the Air Force went beyond what they were even contemplating in 2008 under Kufour and we said that look, ‘look, about four of their aircraft were all in bad condition and so they didn’t want to jeopardize the lives of their men. They wanted all the four aircraft changed. So, the NDC Mills/Mahama government tried to pursue what the Kufour administration had started by buying the Spartan C27 aircraft from the Americans,” he explained.
Mr. Gyamfi further disclosed that “But it turned out that they could not get the aircraft delivered by 2012. And the price that they were contemplating in 2008 had changed drastically… so they were compelled to then look for a new option.”
“So the Military High Command, the Ghana Air Force Headquarters, in consultation with the Ministry of Defense, did their own analysis and said ‘what other aircraft can serve this same purpose at even a cheaper cost and can be delivered to us on time.’ That is how come they fell on Airbus … CASA C295 aircrafts. So they – the military command, the Air Force, and the Ministry of Defense then took the decision that this is the aircraft we need.
“That proposal was put before John Mahama, and the government. [John Mahama] was a chairman of the Armed Forces Council and they saw that yes, the proposals from Airbus was good. The price was competitive and Ghana was getting value for money… cabinet approved it and Parliament of Ghana, made up of NDC and NPP MPs all unanimously approved that Ghana should go and buy three CASA 295 aircraft from Airbus.
“Now, because John Mahama was a Vice President and he was interested in Ghana getting a good deal, with good intentions, he participated in some of the negotiations. There were times that officials of Airbus visited Ghana and went to his office to brief him about the progress of the transaction. …as chairman of the Armed Forces Council, he was being given briefings on the status of the transaction and he was participating in the discussions. That was his role in the Airbus matter,” the party’s communication officer explained.
