The special aide to former President Rawlings, Mr. Kofi Adams, has told The Chronicle that a number of international lawyers have decided to defend his boss in the bribery allegation made against him by some top officials of Scancem, the producers of Ghana Cement (GHACEM), in far away Norway.According to him, the decision by the lawyers to defend Mr. Rawlings follows a press conference he organized in Norway to officially deny that he and his wife, Nana Konadu, were paid various sums of money by Scancem officials to aid their business interest in Ghana.

Mr. Adams, who was speaking in an interview with this reporter in Accra recently, noted that the lawyers have already received the transcript of the court proceedings where the allegation were reportedly made against the former President, and have come to the conclusion that the latter’s name was never mentioned in court, as receiving bribes from the Scancem officials.

“The lawyers found out that Mr. Rawlings was not mentioned by the prosecution witness.

They believe that it was a grand scheme to destroy the image of the former President and have, therefore, vowed to fight to clear his name in court, without charging him any legal fees”, he said

According to him, the lawyers were of the view that the position taken by the newspaper in Norway and its collaborators was an attempt to destroy the image of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) founder.

As to why Mr. Rawlings has now taken the decision to go to court when he openly stated that he did not have enough money to prosecute that agenda, Mr. Adams admitted his boss did make those comments when the case came out, but said the decision to now go to court was taken by the lawyers and that the former President would not pay any legal fee, which is very expensive in Norway.

“He would have equally initiated court actions against the people, but for the expensive nature of legal fees in Norway.

He is happy that these lawyers have had some interest in the case because they want the truth to prevail,” he said.

Adams further told The Chronicle that as part of the legal process, Mr. Rawlings’ lawyers would demand apology and retraction from the newspaper that published the allegation.

Touching on the recent Mabey and Johnson bribery allegation against some of the Ministers that served in the Rawlings government, Adams said his boss has asked President Mills to deal with them if they are found guilty of the crime. “He was also happy that President Mills has quickly called for investigations into the matter.

He also thinks that the people who are found culpable should be punished,” he said.

source: chronicle

Tags: bribery, ghana news, rawlings, scancem, scandal