Claim: Nana Akomea, Ghana’s State Transport Company Managing Director, has alleged that ex-President John Mahama described Martin Amidu, the country’s former Special Prosecutor, as stupid when he cited him in the Airbus bribery scandal.
Verdict: False. JUSTFACT GHANA’s investigation showed that the ex-Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, did not describe Mr Amidu as stupid when he identified him as Government Official ‘1’ in the Airbus bribery scandal, as Mr Akomea alleged. JUSTFACT GHANA’s analysis revealed that Mr Mahama’s use of the word “stupid” was in reference to the report the then Special Prosecutor, Mr Amidu, released.
Full-Text:
The Managing Director of Ghana’s State Transport Company, Nana Akomea, has said ex-President John Mahama’s recent public utterances are affecting his hard-earned reputation.
The former Okaikwei South Member of Parliament wondered why the ex-Ghanaian leader would describe the country’s current Vice-President and his political rival, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as “below him.”
Mr Akomea expressed little surprise about Mr Mahama’s current posturing because he had described Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, as “stupid.”
“He described the OSP, Martin Amidu when Amidu had a report that said John Mahama was Government Official ‘1’ in the Airbus matter. He described him as stupid. John Mahama described Amidu as stupid,” the Vice Chairman of Bawumia 2024 Campaign Team told Accra-based Metro TV.
Mr Akomea’s comment is in the video posted on X (formerly Twitter) from minutes 2:50 to 3:08.
The social media platform data has revealed that as of Nov. 11, 2024, the video had received over 155,343 views, 111 reposts, 108 comments, 453 likes and 54 bookmarks.
Reacting to the video, an X user, Mr Gabby wrote on Nov. 1, 2024,
“Clearly Nana Akomea who I consider an astute member of the party and should be in a position to advise party members is being “stupid” with his comments and has little idea of what he’s talking about. Using Bawumia’s comment as a yardstick to judge Mahama is unwise.”
Another X user, Kofi Bonna wrote:
“Why is it that all old folks because of politics have become dumb? Did you all do project work before you graduated?”
Investigation
JUSTFACT GHANA’s investigation showed that the ex-Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, did not describe Mr Amidu as stupid when he identified him as Government Official ‘1’ in the Airbus bribery scandal, as Mr Akomea alleged.
JUSTFACT GHANA’s analysis revealed that Mr Mahama’s use of the word “stupid” was in reference to the report the then Special Prosecutor, Mr Amidu, released.
Commenting on the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP)’s corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa Minerals Royalties, the ex-Ghanaian leader wondered why a paragraph on the Airbus scandal was added to the report when it was unrelated.
“…they say investigate Agyapa…but because he is a coward and he knew that they were going to discuss Agyapa, so [he] put a paragraph on Airbus to equalise the discussion. I mean what stupidity is this?” Mr Mahama said in Nov. 2020.
The comment of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s 2024 Presidential candidate is in minutes 1:00 to 1:10 of the video state-owned Daily Graphic posted on Facebook.
The findings of JUSTFACT GHANA’s Google Keyword search revealed that no reputable media outlet in Ghana reported on the alleged comment.
Given Mr Mahama’s comment in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election, if he had indeed described Mr Amidu as “stupid” for referring to him as ‘Government Official ‘1’ in the Airbus scandal, it would have dominated discussion in the country.
However, no data online supports the claim that the ex-Ghanaian leader described Mr Amidu as “stupid.”
See some reports where Mr Mahama was said to have described Mr Amidu’s report as “stupid” here and here.
Although his attention was drawn to the inaccuracies in his submission, Mr Akomea said, “If there is a report, going by what you are saying, that you don’t agree with you say it is stupid.”
See minutes 4:08 to 4:20 of Accra-based Metro TV’s video for Mr Akomea’s comment.
Conclusion
The ex-Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, did not describe Mr Amidu as stupid when he identified him as Government Official ‘1’ in the Airbus bribery scandal, as Mr Akomea alleged
