John Hardy, the man who led the prosecution of the famous Mabey and Johnson case in the United Kingdom has told Citi News, there is a huge chance that the officials named for allegedly bribing top Ghanaian officials in order to secure Government of Ghana Contracts in the 1990’s may face criminal prosecution.
The scandal which has become a matter of full scale investigation by Ghana’s Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice caused top government Ministers like Dr. George Sipa Yankey and Hon. Alhaji Amadou Seidu to resign their positions last year.
Mabey and Johnson, UK construction firm was said to have paid huge sums of British pounds to Dr. Sipa Yankey and at least seven others to help influence the award of government contracts to the company.
News of the scandal broke last year after a British Court found the company guilty of bribery and corruption. Although the court fined Maybey and Johnson over the scandal, the officials thought to have bribed the Ghanaians linked to the case were never prosecuted in court.
This development has drawn strong condemnation from most Ghanaians. Speaking exclusively to Citi News shortly after his arrival in Ghana late last week, Mr. Hardy commended CHRAJ for beginning investigations into the matter, saying prosecutors in the UK are also discussing the possibility of prosecuting the Maybey and John officials linked to the scandal.
“The question of prosecution of individual remains an open question at the moment. It’s not necessarily the case that no further proceedings will be taken against them…It may be dealt with…because the issue is still under consideration.” He said. CHRAJ has already concluded preliminary investigation into the scandal.
The Commission has announced it will begin public hearing into the bribery allegations against the Ghanaian officials linked to the scandal on March 15.
Mr. Hardy is expected to deliver what the Danquah Institute said will be a thought-provoking lecture on Money laundering and Corruption beginning Tuesday, March 9. Tuesday offshore Lecture will be on the theme “Protecting Ghana and Ghana’s Emerging Financial offshore Center from Money Laundering”.
The second and final lecture to be delivered by Mr. Hardy at the K.A.Busia Hall of University of Ghana, Legon would be on a the theme “International Corruption-How Ghana can Collaborate with the UK and others to beat it.
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