The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision to refer the Airbus scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in 2020, claiming it was a political manoeuvre aimed at gaining favour with voters.
On January 31, 2020, Ghana was cited as one of five countries where global aerospace group Airbus SE allegedly engaged in bribery or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015, as reported by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.
The scandal led to Airbus agreeing to a record £3 billion settlement with France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to avoid corporate criminal charges.
In response to the scandal, President Akufo-Addo referred the case to the OSP for further investigation in February 2020. However, the OSP cleared former President John Mahama of any wrongdoing in the deal on Thursday, August 8.
In an interview on Eyewitness News, the NDC’s Head of Legal Affairs, Edudzie Tamekloe, commended the OSP for its report while reiterating the party’s belief that the initial referral was politically motivated.
“Obviously, Ghana’s most corrupt president felt that the only way to equalise that dubious distinction that he has okayed as the mother serpent of corruption is to refer John Dramani Mahama so that while the investigation is ongoing, it gives him a political folder against the person of John Dramani Mahama.
“Today, the professionalism of Kissi Agyebeng, relating to this investigation, has completely exonerated John Dramani Mahama, related to this airbus conversation.”
Source: CNR