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NPP alleges Govt Official 1is former President Mahama

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has alleged that the person referred to as “Government Official 1 (“GO1”) in the Airbus SE bribery scandal is no other person but former President John Dramani Mahama.

The party said the intervention of former Attorney –General, Marietta Brew-Oppong to explain matters on behalf of Mr Mahama was very weak since she was unable to respond to the hard facts as put out by the United Kingdom, Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoa, Communications Director of NPP at a media briefing in Accra yesterday therefore asked the former president to respond directly to the issues himself.

Explaining the basis for the reason why NPP thought Mr Mahama was culpable and answered to the identity of GO1, Mr Asamoa said the court documents and proceedings stated that a high ranking elected Ghanaian government official was allegedly involved in acts of bribery intended to improperly influence his conduct of government business adding the fact that the official was referred to as GO1.

The story so far seems fairly clear, Airbus SE, in seeking to sell Ghana three military transport planes from 2009 to 2015, actively engaged GO1, further described as the “key decision maker” in the purchase of the aircraft by the then Government of Ghana,” he said.

He further explained that though the deal for the two planes was concluded in 2011, the elected government official could not have been the late President Mills because the evidence identified a “Go-between,” who was said to be a close relative of GO1.

Mr Asamoa said the GO–Between referred to as intermediary 5 (I5) in the court papers was further identified as a U.K. national born in Ghana adding that I5 was said to have migrated to the U.K. as a young child and thereafter lost touch with his Ghanaian family until the late 1990’s.

He said according to former President Mahama’s account of his sibling in his book, ‘My First Coup D’Etat’, the profile I5 appears to fit perfectly that of the long lost and found brother adding that having been found, he conveniently surfaced to be the Preferred Business Partner (PBP) of Airbus units deal with the Government of Ghana through GO1.

BY LAWRENCE MARKWEI

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