Notwithstanding the fact that there are alleged bribery and corruption scandals hanging on the neck of former President Mahama, he remains innocent until proven otherwise.
Of course, the former president has an inherent right to the presumption of innocence. Suffice it to emphasise that it is the job of the investigative bodies to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, or to establish a prima facie case, and not a job for the former president to prove his innocence.
That being said, it is no exaggeration to venture to stress that in any other equitable jurisdiction, the former president would have been investigated thoroughly and prosecuted if a prima facie case is established.
If indeed there are serious bribery and corruption scandals hanging on the neck of a former president who is desperately seeking to return to the presidency, it would be fair and proper that he is investigated and cleared before his name appears on the ballot.
Unlike Ghana where former and incumbent heads of state are insulated by the seemingly irrational and unjust indemnity clauses, in other equitable jurisdictions, the past and incumbent presidents may face the full rigour of the law without any recourse to their status.
Take, for example, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, was investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to nine years and six months in prison on corruption and money laundering charges.
Suffice it to stress that he served his term, put himself forward for re-election, and was re-elected by the majority of Brazilian electorates.
While it is true that the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, was re-elected after serving his prison sentence, it is absolutely wrong for the teeming supporters to argue somewhat speciously that Mahama is taking a cue from the Brazilian leader.
In the grand scheme of things, if Mahama wants to return to the presidency, it is incumbent on him to clear the doubts in the minds of Ghanaians over the alleged bribery and corruption scandals hanging around his neck.
Undoubtedly, the president of a nation is a serious job and as such it requires a serious and committed person, therefore, it is quite troubling if corruption allegations are hanging on the neck of an individual who is going to look after the national coffers and has so far unwilling to seriously disprove such allegations.
In fact, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Mahama failed to square up with the Attorney-General under Mills/Mahama administration, Martin Amidu, when he audaciously told Ghanaians that the late President Mills set up a committee to investigate a suspicious Brazilian Aircrafts deal negotiated by the then Vice President Mahama.
It is also a known secret that subsequent to the embarrassing Airbus bribery and corruption scandal between 2009 and 2015, President Akufo-Addo tasked the then Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu to establish the identity of the said Government Official One who allegedly took bribe in the international thematic report.
The Special Prosecutor concluded in 2020 that the said Government Official 1 in the Airbus bribery scandal was the former president and the 2020 flagbearer of NDC, John Dramani Mahama.
The report nonetheless concluded that since we were in the election period and the said protagonist was a presidential candidate, the Office of the Special Prosecutor was not in a position to take any immediate action.
To his credit, the current Special Prosecutor is dutifully probing into the alleged involvement of former President Mahama in the Airbus bribery and corruption scandal between 2009 and 2015.
It is, however, quite unfortunate that the party loyalists would choose to heckle the Special Prosecutor’s over his prudent decision to continue with the investigation of former President Mahama’s alleged involvement in the embarrassing Airbus bribery and corruption scandal.
Besides, the teeming supporters contention that after all Akufo-Addo is allegedly much more corrupt than Mahama and therefore must be left alone is a nonstarter.
Who says that Akufo-Addo cannot be investigated over any alleged bribery and corruption scandal hanging around his neck at some point in retirement?
For the sake of justice, we would humbly plead with the diehard supporters of Mahama to exercise restraint and cease their cacophonous witch-hunting rendition and allow the Special Prosecutor to bring finality to the seemingly international embarrassment.
