AIRBUS BRIBERY SCANDAL –PRESIDENT INSTRUCTS MARTIN AMIDU TO INVESTISIGATE
President Nana Akufo-Addo has referred the Airbus bribery
scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the matter.
These
investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United
Kingdom authorities, according to a statement from the presidency.
The
statement noted that the Special Prosecutor Office will “collaborate with its
UK counterparts to conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or
otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the
said scandal.”
The
President, according to the statement, wants “necessary legal action taken
against any such official, as required by Ghanaian law.”
On
January 31, Ghana was cited as one of five countries in which global aerospace
group, Airbus SE, allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in
exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015, according to the UK’s
Serious Fraud Office.
This led
to a record £3 billion in settlement by Airbus with France, the United Kingdom
and the United States to avoid corporate criminal charges.
In addition to Ghana, the company allegedly paid bribes to
officials in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan within the same period.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office, however, in its statement of fact did not name the individual Ghanaian
officials nor the Airbus agents involved in the crime because
investigations were still ongoing.
Response from NDC
The National
Democratic Congress (NDC), which was in power during the period the bribes were
allegedly paid, denied the suggestions of corruption from key state actors.
The party in a
statement signed by former Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong argued
that media reports on the matter did not capture the true reflection of the
approved judgement of the case in the UK.
“The reports alleging
that Airbus SE paid bribes during the administration of President John Evans
Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama are false, misleading and do not reflect the
Approved Judgment. Indeed, the Approved Judgment of the Crown Court of
Southwark approving the DPA between Airbus and the UK Serious Fraud Office does
not allege that any payment was made by Airbus to any Ghanaian Government
official,” the statement said.
Purpose of Ghana bribe
In the case of Ghana,
the court found that the company’s bribe was to land the contract of purchase
of a military transport aircraft.
“Between 1 July 2011
and 1 June 2015 Airbus SE failed to prevent persons associated with Airbus SE
from bribing others concerned with the purchase of military transport aircraft
by the Government of Ghana, where the said bribery was intended to obtain or
retain business or advantage in the conduct of business for Airbus SE,” the
court’s statement of offence noted.
The documents
indicated that one of the unnamed Ghanaian officials was “a key decision-maker
in respect of Government of Ghana aircraft orders.”
A number of Airbus
employees “made or promised success-based commission payments of approximately
€5 million” to one of the Ghanaians implicated in the acts of corruption.
Find below the full Presidency statement
