Mahama Faces 2-Year Jail Term Over False Passport Claim
Former president John Mahama faces a maximum jail term of two years or a fine for allegedly guaranteeing for his brother to procure a Ghanaian passport with false information.
According to the special prosecutor, Martin Amidu, Mahama’s younger brother, Samuel Adam Mahama, procured a Ghanaian passport, which was guaranteed by Mahama, with a false information in breach of the Passport and Travel Certificate Decree, 1967, NLCD 155.
Amidu said by his actions the former President abused his office.
The statement signed by the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu alleged that John Dramani Mahama together with his elder brother Alfred Abdulai Mahama, who described himself as a Civil Servant, were the first and second guarantors for Samuel Adam Mahama’s Ghanaian passport.
The statement claimed that in the application process for the passport, Samuel Adam Mahama indicated that he attended the University of Ghana from January 6, 1992 to November 4, 1994. This information, according to the SP, was false but the Mahamas overlooked that and guaranteed the application for him.
“The evidence also discloses that John Dramani Mahama described as Former President, of Plot Number 6 North Street Tesano, P. O. Box AN 104, Accra was the first guarantor with Alfred Abdulai Mahama falsely described as a Civil Servant also of Plot No. 6 North Street Tesano, P. O. Box AN 104, Accra as the second guarantor to the application of Samuel Adam Mahama described as PROJECT MANAGER also of Plot Number 6 North Street Tesano, P. O. Box AN 104, Accra for a Ghanaian passport,” Amidu wrote.
“Former President John Dramani Mahama and his elder brother Alfred Abdulai Mahama both knew that Samuel Adam Mahama had not attended the University of Ghana from 6th January 1992 to 4th November 1994 but nonetheless guaranteed the application verifying the statements contained in the application for the Ghanaian passport. These were all done in furtherance of corruption and corruption-related offences,” the SP’s statement added.
A lawyer, popularly known as Patriot Faisal Ibrahim shares his thoughts on the issue:
Patriot Faisal Ibrahim writes:
So what Government Official 1 (John Mahama) has done by guaranteeing for his younger brother, Intermediary 5, Samuel Adam Mahama, to procure a Ghanaian passport with false information is a breach of Section 15 of the Passport and Travel Certificate Decree, 1967, NLCD 155.
Section 15 (1) (b) states that “A person who makes a statement which is, to the knowledge of that person untrue for the purpose of procuring a passport or a travel certificate for that or any other person commits an offence.”
Punishment for this offence can lead to 2 years imprisonment, a fine or both.
It is interesting to note that the Passport Application Forms has at the top a bold CAUTION against making false statements. The caution reads:
“APPLICANTS, GUARANTORS AND WITNESSES ARE TO NOTE THAT THE MAKING OF A FALSE STATEMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROCURING A PASSPORT IS AN OFFENCE UNDER SECTION 15 OF THE PASSPORT AND TRAVEL CERTIFICATE DECREE (NLCD. 155, 1967)”
So the former President, by guaranteeing the forms for his brother, knowing that his brother did not attend the University of Ghana, has made himself liable for prosecution for the offence discussed above.