Airbus scandal: ‘OSP report just a truce, doesn’t bring finality’ — Martin Kpebu

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has raised concerns about the ability of the Office of the Special Prosecutor's (OSP) report on the Airbus scandal to fully address lingering suspicions of corruption.

Speaking on the Key Points on Accra-based TV3 on Saturday, August 10, Mr. Kpebu questioned whether the millions of Euros Samuel Adam Foster received from Airbus as an intermediary could continue to fund former President John Mahama's political ambitions.

"Now that Foster [Mahama’s brother] got that money, do you know how much he will continue to JM’s campaign?" Kpebu asked.

He argued that the OSP report "doesn't bring finality, it is just a truce" and matters of a criminal nature could be revisited if new evidence emerges.

"In the future if they find evidence, it appears they will not be able to prosecute, they can go back to it," Kpebu said.

"Once money has gone into the president’s brother’s pocket we will never be happy about it, because there is suspicion," he added.

The OSP report, released last Thursday, summarized a four-year investigation into bribery allegations against top Ghanaian officials in the purchase of military aircraft from Airbus between 2009-2015.

It found no evidence that former President John Mahama improperly influenced the deal or accepted bribes.

However, the report said Mahama's direct involvement in meetings with Airbus raised reasonable suspicions due to his brother Samuel Adam Foster's role as an Airbus intermediary.

While concluding there was no prosecutable corruption, the OSP warned against elected officials engaging in direct commercial dealings that could expose them to perceptions of influence peddling or conflicts of interest.