Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Owusu-Bempah, has criticized former President John Dramani Mahama’s aspirations to return to the presidency.
He argued that Mahama has not reflected on his own time in office.
Mr Owusu-Bempah claims that Mahama’s legacy is marred by being the first president to be ousted through a popular vote, attributing this to his administration’s lack of a clear agenda and alleged mismanagement of public funds.
“Let’s all say no to corruption, and say no to Mahama,” he said in a statement while fingering Mr Mahama in another ‘government official one corruption’ in the United States.
The issue came to light when former Goldman Sachs executive Asante Berko was indicted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr Berko, who was arrested for allegedly orchestrating bribes to Ghanaian officials during his tenure at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States.
This indictment follows Berko’s settlement of a related civil case with U.S. securities regulators three years ago. Initially, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in 2020, accusing Berko of arranging $4.5 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials. These bribes were allegedly intended to secure a power-plant contract for a Turkish energy company in Ghana. According to the SEC, Berko personally delivered at least $66,000 to members of Ghana’s parliament.
Below are excerpts from the U.S. court documents “For example, in April 2015, bribes were paid to five Ghanaian officials during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to view equipment for the power plant, during which the officials each received $5,000. After the power plant deal was ratified by the Ghanaian parliament in July 2015, Berko and his co-conspirators exchanged detailed emails regarding their bribe payments. In August 2015, they discussed $250,000 in bribe payments paid to various individuals, including $20,000 to the “MoP Girls”—who were with the Ghanaian Ministry of Power and who a co-conspirator described as “vital to our communication and information acquisition.” The emails further detailed tens of thousands of dollars in bribes that Berko had personally paid and for which he was still owed. Payments in furtherance of the bribery scheme were laundered through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, including several in Berko’s name.”
Owusus Bempah in a statement said “At this juncture, the question that remains to be answered is, can Mahama pass the probity and Accountability test?
“This is the man who the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu had concluded that he is the beneficiary architect of the stinking Airbus deal, of which official UK government records refer him as Government Official One.”
Below is the full statement…
For Immediate Release
Friday 19th July, 2024
Mahama caught in yet another government official one corruption in the US
……………………..
It’s said that a leopard never changes it’s spot, and this native wisdom has a direct correlation with former President John Mahama.
Indeed, it has come to light yet again that Mahama’s inherent corrupt nature won’t just go away.
This all blew up when a former Goldman Sachs executive Asante Berko was indicted by the U.S Security’s commission.
Berko was arrested on charges that he orchestrated bribes to Ghanaian officials while employed at the investment bank, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and has been extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom.
Asante Berko’s arraignment comes three years after the Goldman banker settled a related civil case with U.S. securities regulators
Berko was first accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a 2020 lawsuit of arranging $4.5 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials. The alleged purpose of those bribes was to help a Turkish energy company win a power-plant contract in the country. Berko personally delivered at least $66,000 to members of Ghana’s parliament, the SEC said at the time.
Here are excerpts from the US court documents;
“For example, in April 2015, bribes were paid to five Ghanaian officials during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to view equipment for the power plant, during which the officials each received $5,000. After the power plant deal was ratified by the Ghanaian parliament in July 2015, Berko and his co-conspirators exchanged detailed emails regarding their bribe payments. In August 2015, they discussed $250,000 in bribe payments paid to various individuals, including $20,000 to the “MoP Girls”—who were with the Ghanaian Ministry of Power and who a co-conspirator described as “vital to our communication and information acquisition.” The emails further detailed tens of thousands of dollars in bribes that Berko had personally paid and for which he was still owed. Payments in furtherance of the bribery scheme were laundered through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, including several in Berko’s name.”
As a matter of fact, paragraph 136 of the US Court documents is quite instructive.
It reads:
“In furtherance of the scheme, the defendant ASANTE KW AK.U BERK.O and others caused more than $700,000 in bribes to be transferred to Ghana Official 1, Ghana Official 2 and other Ghanaian officials, including officials in the Ghanaian parliament, Pure and GridCo, corruptly in exchange for, among other things, their assistance in ensuring that Turkish Energy Company was successful in winning the bid to build and operate the Power Plant”
Intriguingly, the bribes Berko is accused of arranging took place between December 2014 and March 2017, according to prosecutors, and interestingly, John Mahama happened to be President of Ghana at the time.
In all honesty, everyone who is privy to the core details of the series of court documents published by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States cannot allege ignorance of the persons who have brought our nation into this international shame.
In fact, Ghana official 1 referenced in the US Court documents actually is no other person than John Mahama.
The same way Mahama was caught red handed as Government Official I in the Airbus corruption, I strongly believe Mahama’s culpability in this stinking corruption case as established by admissions and supporting court documents from the US can never be in doubt.
At this juncture, the question that remains to be answered is, can Mahama pass the probity and Accountability test?
This is the man who the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu had concluded that he is the beneficiary architect of the stinking Airbus deal, of which official UK government records refer him as Government Official One.
We are talking about the same Mahama whose government signed onto a half-baked contract of $1.2 billion for the Ghana Retail Payments Systems Infrastructure.
Again, we talking about the same Mahama who took a bribe (Ford vehicle) from Kanazoe Contractors. The same Mahama whose government spent over GHC 6 million to paint portraits of former Heads of State on public buses purchased by the NPP government, which have now been left to rot, at a time that his own party rented those buses to cart unwilling NDC supporters to his uninspiring rallies in the 2016 general elections.
Mahama is ambitious to return to the seat as Head of State, but failing to examine his own tenure in office; the ugly legacy of being the first-ever President to be booted out of office in a popular election mainly as a result of running a government that had no agenda than the siphoning of the public purse.
Let’s all say no to corruption, and say no to Mahama.
Signed:
Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah Bonsu, Deputy Director of Communications, NPP
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