Explainer: Airbus brouhaha; what we know so far
A UK court ruling named Ghana among 20 other countries involved in a questionable deal with Europe’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Airbus.
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The UK Crown Court ruling revealed that Ghana went into a fictitious agreement with Airbus, an arrangement which the UK’s Serious Fraud Office describes as fraudulent.
The document from the UK Crown Court further states that Airbus failed to prevent persons associated with it from bribing others concerned in the purchase of military transport aircraft for the government of Ghana.
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Between July 1, 2011, and June 1, 2015, the government of Ghana went in an agreement with Airbus to purchase three military aircrafts.
It is in this transaction that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office has revealed that some persons from within the Ghana government were compromised.
It has been revealed that these persons were bribed by the Airbus officials so as to retain or even obtain business advantage for Airbus in the future.
It is on the back of such shady deals that the Airbus was fined £3 billion by the UK court for attempting to bribe and corrupting officials of countries they enter into agreement with.
YEN.com.gh investigations has revealed that the agreement to purchase the aircrafts was approved by parliament on March 25, 2015.
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Our checks further revealed that the agreement happened during the Atta-Mills and John Mahama era.
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are pointing accusing fingers at the NDC’s flag bearer John Dramani Mahama as the government official who was bribed by the Airbus officials.
The NDC has vehemently denied and rejected the allegations of their opponent.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has also directed the Office of the Special Prosecutor to also take a look into what has become the Airbus Scandal.
The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu is required to investigate to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the scandal.
The Special Prosecutor in a statement said his office began investigations into the Airbus saga on February 4, 2020. He opined that preliminary investigation is underway and urged Ghanaians not speculate or politicize matters.
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Africa’s biggest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is in the process of cutting down a number of its flights to China.
This comes in the wake of the coronavirus scare which has plagued the Asian country in recent times.
Information available shows that about 725 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
