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Red notice on Samuel Mahama lacks weight, he is not at large- Alex Segbefia

The Deputy Campaign Manager of the National Democratic Congress says the Red Notice issued for the arrest of former President John Mahama’s brother, Samuel Adam Mahama, is worthless because the latter is not at large.

He is accused of accepting bribes to facilitate Ghana’s purchase of two aircraft from Airbus.

Mr Alex Segbefia, who is a former Crown Prosecutor in the United Kingdom, explains that Red notices are mostly issued for wanted people or fugitives.

“Both the British government and the Ghanaian government know the whereabouts of Mr. Samuel Foster Mahama.

“If the government feels there was a wrong dealing with the Airbus issue in Ghana, then they should commence with an extradition process, instead of issuing a red notice, Mr Segbefia said on Citi Fm’s Big Issue.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) on July issued a red notice for Samuel Adam Fosters, aka Samuel Adam Mahama, concerning his role in the Airbus bribery scandal.

He is being sought for allegedly accepting bribe to influence a public officer and acting in collaboration with a public officer for the public officer’s private gain.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

In January this year, Aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, confessed to paying bribes in Ghana and other countries between 2011 and 2015 in a corruption investigation of its business deals dating back more than a decade.

Court documents obtained by theghanareport.com show that Europe’s largest plane maker has been fined 3 billion pounds for greasing the palms of public officials and fixers over a string of hidden payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption to facilitate the sales of its wares.

In February, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo referred the matter to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations.

In March, the Attorney General officially wrote to the Senior Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom to help unravel the names involved in the controversial Airbus scandal.

In the same month, the Office of the Special Prosecutor invited four persons in connection with the alleged act of bribery and other offences in Ghana’s acquisition of two aircraft from Airbus between 2011 and 2015.

The four persons are a UK/Ghanaian citizen, Samuel Adam Foster, alias Samuel Adam Mahama, and three other UK nationals; Philip Sean Middlemiss, Leanne Sarah Davis and Sarah Furneaux.

With the four people failing to show up, the Special Prosecutor initiated processes in  Ghanaian courts to declare them wanted and also used Interpol to issue a Red Notice for their arrest.

But Mr Segbefia insists the move is unwarranted.

“Basically a red alert is not an arrest warrant, a red alert is done by a country which informs Interpol of the need to partially hold someone because of issues with regard to criminal offences or for that matter, extradition.

“The red alert can be unilaterally done by a country; they don’t need to seek the permission of the Interpol before giving a red alert.

He insists that the timing and the fact that the issue is not being handled under closed doors shows that the Red Notice is a red herring meant to impede former President Mahama’s campaign.

“This airbus bribery issue has lingered over a long period such that it has become very difficult to determine whether the issue actually pertaining to crime or for just the scoring of political points.

“Mr. Samuel Mahama is innocent because he hasn’t been proven guilty by any court. However, the case is being dragged for political reasons,” the Deputy NDC Campaign Manager said

Mr Segbefia admits that the development has the potential to affect the campaign of the NDC, but also insists the issues must be properly scrutinised and not only looked at with political lenses.

 

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