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Press Release
Ghanaian for a Better Government
April 21, 2014
MAHAMA GOVERNMENT MUST COME CLEAN ON
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DEALINGS WITH IBRAHIM MAHAMA
Ghanaians for a Better Government is a new pressure group set up
to expose bad governance, push for transparency, accountability
and value for money on how taxpayers’ money is spent and for a
government that is competent and shows compassion and care for
the concerns of the suffering masses.
We wish to use our maiden statement to express our worry and
reservations about the dodgy, dark and clandestine nature of a
supposed visit to Iran by a Ghanaian government delegation, led
by Ibrahim Mahama, brother of President John Dramani Mahama. We
wish to ask, is Ibrahim Mahama the de facto prime minister of
this our Republic?
Our immediate concern is to do with the blatant conflict of
interest in the fact that our President will allow government to
hire for official functions a private jet acquired by his
brother.
We are calling on government to come clean and clarify the
obvious contradiction between an official statement issued by
the Iranian government Friday that the plane carried Ghana
government officials to Tehran for official meetings with the
government of Iran and a statement subsequently issued by the
company of President Mahama’s brother that the plane only
carried a group of business people from Ghana.
The attention of the world, this weekend, was drawn to a
corporate jet, owned by Ibrahim Mahama’s mining firm, Engeneers
& Planners, and held in trust by a small US community bank, the
Bank of Utah, The plane came to the attention of the CIA because
a US-registered airline had no business being in Iran, which is
facing sanctions.
According to the New York Times, Iran’s Foreign Ministry,
bombarded with questions over why an American plane was parked
at the airport, said on Friday that the plane had been used to
transport top Ghanaian officials as part of a broader push to
expand cooperation between the two countries.
These high powered meetings have led to international news
agencies such as Reuters reporting on these “suspicious”
meetings between Ibrahim Mahama and the Iranians.
Indeed, according to Iranian news agencies, the Spokeswoman of
the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Marzieh Afkhan, stated
emphatically that “This plane was carrying a high-ranking
delegation from Ghana and according to an announcement by the
country’s government, the jet was in possession of the US and
chartered by Ghana’s presidency."
She added that “The passengers of the plane comprised a
delegation of Ghanaian officials headed by the brother of the
country’s president, and none of its crew were Americans,"
maintaining that the Ghanaian delegation, “headed by Ibrahim
Mahama”, held talks with Iranian officials before leaving the
country last Thursday.
This is clearly a case of conflict of interest and a glorified
form of sole-sourcing. This jet is currently being rented by the
government of Ghana, with the proceeds going into the pockets of
the President’s brother, a win-win situation for the President
and his brother.
Below is what H. K. Prempeh, who is with the Centre for
Democratic Development and a respected law Professor in the
United States, had to say about this development:
“Are we supposed to find nothing wrong with the fact that a
President's brother, on or around the eve of his brother
becoming President announces his purchase of a private jet,
which jet, we now learn, is being rented by the Government of
Ghana presided over by his brother for use by the Government of
Ghana on official trips abroad. ‘Hey big bro le Presidente, how
about this? You are the President, right? So, why don't I buy or
lease a jet, and you get your government to rent it from me for
use by the government on official trips. Win-win, me and you!
High fives!’
“Nice, guaranteed, captive market. All-in-the-family sole
sourcing. No questions asked.
“Please, if you are the CEO at your workplace, don't try this
sort of monkey business. You will be promptly fired. That is,
unless your place of work is Ghana--or, more precisely, the
government of Ghana.
“In my world, this is a textbook case of prohibited conflict of
interests. (Yes, I have been teaching this sort of thing in my
corporate law/corporate governance and legal ethics classes for
years.) How is this called in your world?”
Secondly, the continuous meddling in the affairs of government
by the brother of the President is very worrying. Why would
Ibrahim Mahama lead a Ghanaian delegation to hold consultative
meetings with the Iranians? Which Ministers were on that trip?
If, indeed, the President’s brother has an official position in
government, we have no problem with that, but that fact must be
official.
Unsurprisingly, Engineers and Planners, the company owned by
Ibrahim Mahama have come out to dispute the claims by the New
York Times Newspaper stating that the delegation led by Ibrahim
Mahama was purely a private business delegation.
Another official at the Presidency has also told the media that
Ibrahim Mahama was not part of that trip! What is there to hide?
All the reports from the New York Times and the Iranian Foreign
Ministry never mentioned a private business delegation, but an
official government of Ghana delegation who met Iranian
counterparts “as part of a broader push to expand cooperation
between the two countries.”
In view of these contradictory statements being bandied about by
Engineers & Planners and the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ghanaians
for a Better Government are calling on the John Mahama
government to come clean on which Ghanaian delegation was in
Iran and what the nature of the consultative talks were about.
If the version of events as reiterated by the Iranian Foreign
Ministry is not true and a bunch of lies, we are urging the
Ghanaian government to call on the Iranians to retract their
story as this is damaging to the image of Ghana.
Ghanaians for a Better Government have also picked up
information that the American government suspects Ghana of
secretly supplying gold to Iran in exchange for oil, which the
government of Ghana sells on the high seas.
To maintain Ghana’s high flying reputation, these are not
allegations the Ghanaian government must treat lightly. Ghana
deserves better than the leadership that is currently on offer.
……signed……
David Asante (Spokesperson)
John Hall (Member)
Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe (Member)
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