Professor Ransford Gyampo says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader, John Mahama, failed to exercise discretion in responding to Martin Amidu.

Professor Ransford Gyampo, a senior lecturer of the University of Ghana, has condemned the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, for hitting below the belt in recent comments about the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.

In a corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa Royalties deal, Amidu revealed that in a plethora of cases he is investigating, the former president has been identified as Government Official 1, making him a principal actor in
the Airbus scandal.

“This Ofce has established the identity of elected Government Ofcial 1 to be former President John Dramani Mahama, whose brother of the full blood is Samuel Adam Foster, also known as Samuel Adam Mahama. The only reason the former President has not been invited for interrogation (in spite of all the threats from some of his followers and lawyers) is the fact that he got himself an insurance as the presidential candidate of the other largest political party in Ghana and prudence dictated that the interrogation be held in abeyance during this election season,” Amidu said, in his report on the Agyapa deal.

Speaking to a group of students of the University of Ghana on Wednesday, 4 November 2020, the presidential candidate of the largest opposition party said Amidu’s decision amounts to “stupidity”
.
“If you were man enough, present Agyapa and do a report on Airbus separately, and then I will come and answer you on Airbus. If you think I am indicted on Airbus, acuse me directly.

“But because he is a coward and they knew Agyapa was going to be discussed today, so he put a paragraph on Airbus to equalise the discussion. What stupidity is this?” Mahama asked.

Reacting to Mahama’s outburst, Professor Gyampo said his statement was uncharacteristic of a presidential candidate. Mahama goofed

“In my view if he feels he is not culpable of anything involving the Airbus scandal, it is within his right to do so, but the extent to which he descended …Elsewhere, if you ask this question, people may not take offence, but in our body politic when you use that word people will feel offended, especially going into a keenly contested election,” he told the host of The Asaase Breakfast Show, Kojo Mensah, on Friday (6 November 2020).

He added: “So, if you go that route it means you are expecting a certain response from the other side. And so the Office of the Special Prosecutor can also come in to also use certain words and others will also emulate, and at the
end of the day you may be sinking low.

“But to say that, ‘What sort of stupidity is this?’, I thought it was something that should not have come from former President Mahama. I know his demeanour and persona. That is not typical of him and that should not be typical of somebody who wants to become a president.”

Professor Gyampo further called on Ghanaians to be circumspect in their utterances before, during and after the general election.

Withdraw the comment

Speaking on the same programme, Yaw Oppong, a legal practitioner, called on the NDC flagbearer to withdraw and apologise for using such “an offensive”.

“I think it is so important for him to come out to say that he withdraws the language and [to] apologise sincerely because in actual fact I think he may have been overly angry,” Oppong said.

Credit: Asaase Radio