ASEPA fires OSP smear campaign against former President Mahama

 The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), has condemned the Office of the Special Prosecutor(OSP) over what it described as a smear campaign against the former President, John Dramani Mahama.

The OSP disclosed that former president John Dramani Mahama is the Government Official 1 (GO1) in the Airbus Scandal but cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Addressing the media at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, August 8, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng also confirmed the brother of the former president, Samuel Mahama, as intermediary 5.

According to the OSP, its investigation found no evidence that former President Mahama was involved or played any role in the procurement and maintenance of the agency relationship between Airbus and Foster and his associates in respect of the purchase by the Government of Ghana of military transport aircraft from Airbus.

Against this backdrop, The Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson in a statement has indicated that “This attempt to smear the former President of an unwarranted corruption tag flies in the face of ethical investigation processes, it undermines rules of law and the fundamental human rights of the persons involved.”

He further noted that “The OSP has a responsibility to rise above partisanship and needlessly politicization of the fight against corruption. This is the only way it can instil confidence and public trust in the work of the OSP.”

By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme

READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM ASEPA HERE 

Immediate Release

8th August, 2024

ASEPA RUBBISHES OSP’s EXONERATION OF AIRBUS

The Actions of the OSP in deciding to ascribe names to un-named persons in the Airbus scandal when the American and British investigations decided to out of ethical conduct conceal the identities of such individuals is extremely reckless and tantamount to needless politicization of the investigative process.

Even more so when the OSP’s own investigations confirm no act of wrongdoing on the part of any of those individuals, it is extremely political and of no normative value to name persons who have not committed any crime.

This attempt to smear the former President of an unwarranted corruption tag flies in the face of ethical investigation processes, it undermines rules of law and the fundamental human rights of the persons involved.

The OSP has a responsibility to rise above partisanship and needlessly politicization of the fight against corruption. This is the only way it can instil confidence and public trust in the work of the OSP.

This is extremely shameful and reprehensible!!

Signed
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA