The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has stated that it is a pleasant feeling to be vindicated in the Airbus scandal.

“No allegations of wrongdoing have been proven against me, including the baseless Airbus brouhaha that the government attempted to clothe me with,” he stressed.  

Mr Mahama was speaking as the guest of honour at a lecture in Kumasi to mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of Sir Paul Victor Obeng. He said members of the NDC did not place themselves above society.

“We are humble and honest enough to submit ourselves to investigative bodies if a basis arises,” he said. 

He said the excellent performance of Mr P.V. Obeng made some malcontents not only to spin the most ridiculous and malicious untruths but also fabricated stories about him.  

Mr Mahama said those rumoured malicious and fabricated untruths became so persistent that the late former President Jerry John Rawlings was compelled to refer P.V. and three of his other appointees to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for investigations.

“The outcome of the CHRAJ investigations was both revealing and vindicating. The Commission did not find any evidence to support the baseless allegations of corruption or impropriety against P.V.,” he stated.  

“Indeed, on page 49 of the Third Annual Report of the CHRAJ in 1996, the Commission found that the allegation that PV owned a string of plush houses in a suburb of Accra worth billions of cedis was untrue,” he said.

Mr Mahama said another allegation that he owned a soft drinks factory was also found to be untrue.

“In other words, on top of all the accolades heaped on P.V., the CHRAJ also added the accolade of integrity and incorruptibility,” he stated.  He said it was unfortunate, though, that this was the event that made Sir Obeng decide to resign from the first government of the Fourth Republic. 

Lessons

Mr Mahama said the lessons for the youth and students of P.V. Obeng’s life were that while student activism was good, it must be born out of conviction and must be measured and reasonable.  

“Sometimes, student leaders and student activists take their leadership roles and activism to extremes, some even at the risk of their academic pursuits, wrecking their futures and careers in the process,” he said.
 

Mr Mahama said the life and works of P.V. Obeng taught everyone that it was possible to combine politics with professionalism effectively.

He said his life and works showed that a calm disposition was an essential quality in politics and governance.  He said it also taught that one must take the vicissitudes of political life in his or her stride as well as with fortitude and equanimity.  

“PV’s life and works teach us that as a politician, you should let your deeds and your works speak for you.  “A lobbying politician is not often the best politician, and PV was not known to lobby for positions in his work as a politician,” he stated.