The Ashanti Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, has described as refreshing, the call by former President John Mahama for government to audit the building of the National Cathedral.
Mr. Antwi-Boasiako however asserted that he who seeks equity must come to the table with clean hands and challenged Mr. John Mahama to subject himself for an audit over the role he played in the Airbus scandal that shook the globe.
The NPP Chairman popularly known as Chairman Wontumi explained to Wontumionline.com that the government of President Akufo-Addo has been transparent in the construction of the National Cathedral but quipped that John Mahama shortchanged the nation in the airbus deal.
“John Mahama should bring out documents which show he didn’t shortchange Ghana in the airbus deal. If he can allow us audit him openly, then he I think his call for the audit of the National Cathedral is welcomed. Even before the audit on the airbus, what we know in public is that the former Special Prosecutor said he committed a crime in the deal”, Chairman Wontumi said.
Former President Mahama has called on government to stop the public funding of the National Cathedral.
“Because of the non-transparency of the processes and procurements associated with the project, I believe that the cathedral project should be subjected to a value-for-money audit in other to open the way for believers who wish to contribute to its construction to do so”, Mr. Mahama said.
However Chairman Wontumi responded that unlike the National Cathedral project which would bring value to the nation, the airbus deal solely benefited Mr. Mahama’s pocket.
In July 2020, the OSP, then headed by Martin Amidu, ‘unveiled’ former President Mahama as the Government Official 1 or Individual 1 that both the United Kingdom and United States investigators referred to in the Airbus SE scandal.
The OSP has been pursuing the former President’s brother, Samuel Adam Foster, aka Samuel Adam Mahama, described as Intermediary 5 in the investigations, and three other foreigners, who have been mentioned as individuals who collected or were paid around 4 million Euros in bribes on behalf of Ghanaian top officials for the supply of aircraft to the Ghana Armed Forces during Mr. Mahama’s tenure as Vice President and later President.