Akufo Addo Under Fire For Cherry-Picking Airbus Scandal For Special Prosecutor

Three years after his appointment, Special Prosecutor Martin A.B.K Amidu has finally been tasked directly by President Akufo Addo in the ongoing US$ 5 million Airbus bribery scandal pinned on the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

On Sunday, February 2, 2020, the Presidency released a statement saying that it has ordered the seemingly comatose Office of the Special Prosecutor (SPO) to launch an investigation, following the explosive revelation in the United Kingdom (UK) over the weekend that European aircraft manufacturer-Airbus had massively bribed officials of several countries, including Ghana to secure juicy aviation deals.

“President Akufo Addo has taken notice of the Judgement and its implications and has referred it to the Office of Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterparts to conduct prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official,” reads the statement signed by the President’s Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin.

However, this move by the Jubilee House has been flagged as a hypocritical cherry-picking, following the scores of corruption allegation against appointees of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that have been completely ignored by the President.

Indeed, allegations that appointees of the President are deeply involved in illegal mining operations (“Galamsey”) have been kept under wraps, with one of the alleged culprits, Charles Cromwell Bissue still maintaining his job as a Presidential Staffer.

The Jubilee House’s sudden flirtation with the SPO is also curiously coming barely one week after President Akufo Addo himself had told foreign diplomats during a retreat at the Peduase Presidential Lodge, that whenever these diplomats sense corruption of his appointees, they should refer the cases to the Presidency. This is despite the fact that the diplomats had the option of directly notifying the special prosecutor to activate his investigative powers.

The biggest opposition party, the NDC today issued a statement slamming the President for “hypocrisy”.

“We in the NDC welcome the investigations into the Airbus scandal, we are happy because vindication lays in the womb of time…But we urge the President to move beyond the Airbus scandal and investigate the several acts of corruption that have occurred under his watch…“Right under President Akufo Addo’s nose, we all heard what went on in the AMERI Novation agreement where the President gave Executive approval. It turned out that they’ve inflated the cost by over$800m. Later we were told the President was misled,” charged Edudzi Tamaklo an Aide to ex-President John Mahama and member of the NDC Legal Team.

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is accusing former President John Dramani Mahama of being “the elected government official 1” named in the Airbus bribery scandal.

At a press conference in Accra on Monday, Director of Communications of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa said the NDC flagbearer played an active role during the purchase of some aircraft for Ghana in 2012.

Late last week, Whatsup News intercepted a trending official judgment from the British Crown Court at Southwark where Airbus was slapped with over €3.6 billion in penalties from bribing political officials in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

In Ghana, the British court said between 2009 and 2015- during the John Evans Atta-Mills/ John Dramani Mahama administration of the NDC, an important government official described as “Government Official 1” may have been complicit in an intricate web of bribery and circumvention of due processes through an intermediary, “Intermediary 5”, to secure a US$ 107 million contract for three military transport aircraft C295.

The deal was reportedly secured through the influence of Government Official 1 who happens to be the one in charge of decisions for the aircraft procurement. Incidentally, the intermediary is said to be directly related to this government official.

This has sparked wild speculations in Ghana, forcing the opposition NDC, through former Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong to issue a statement asking the public to disregard any speculation that seeks to pinpoint the scandal at any of the former officials in the NDC administration.

A statement signed on Sunday by former Attorney General, Marrieta Brew-Oppong stated categorically that “the reports that Airbus SE pasid bribes during the administration of President John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama are false, misleading and do not reflect the approved judgement”

“indedd, the approved judgement 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 Aibus to any Ghanaian Government official” the statement emphasized