A deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu has asked the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to speed up investigations into the Airbus SE scandal which came up in 2020.
Airbus SE committed bribery by paying officials through a third party, and also bribed people through other forms of compensation. Ghana appeared to be one of the countries where a third party was consulted to pay bribe for the purchase of a military aircraft.
An investigation was launched into the scandal by the OSP last year, update of which has not been made public since.
In a petition drafted to the OSP Friday, September 15, 2023, Mr. Owusu Bempah says the OSP’s silence over the matter is a worry considering the heinous nature of the scandal and the international disgrace it brought upon the state.
He has accused the OSP for treating the matter with soft hands due to political expediency and paying lip service to it.
“Bearing in mind the above realities, it is most unfortunate that your good office has, for political expediency, treated Mr Mahama with kids gloves. Like most Ghanaians, I have grown skeptical about the lip service being paid to such a huge international corruption involving our former President,” he indicated.
Read below his full petition:
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Attention:
Kissi Agyebeng
The Special Prosecutor
Haile Gabrielle Selasse Ave Ridge-Accra
PETITION: Request For Action On The Airbus Corruption
Please accept my compliment.
I write to you to officially call for urgent action on the Airbus SE corruption.
As you are aware Airbus SE has admitted to paying nearly $4 billion to resolve foreign bribery and other charges with authorities in the United States, Britain and France.
The aircraft maker has also admitted using intermediaries over several years to bribe government officials and airline executives in order to win lucrative contracts the world over including Ghana.
Again, the company admitted hiring the brother of a top elected Ghanaian official as its consultant in the sale of the aircraft. Also, Airbus confessed paying the said consultant through a third party when its Compliance Unit raised red flags about the close relationship between the consultant and the top elected official who was a key decision maker in the purchase of the military aircraft.
And rightly so, your good office has signaled its intention to delve into the matter.
It’s been over a year and the public is still in the dark as to where you’re with the investigations.
Whereas I do not doubt the competence of your office to get to the bottom of this massive international corruption, I respectfully submit and appeal to your good office to take immediate action in helping the people of Ghana to put this matter behind us.
The Airbus corruption is the biggest corruption case ever. Indeed, payment of bribes were made and received, and the biggest beneficiary as alleged was former President John Mahama, codenamed as GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1 in the US Court documents.
Again, documents were falsified in making the payments to disguise the payment of bribes to GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1 is on the record of the Court as the recipient of the corrupt proceeds from this transaction.
Paragraph 136 of the US Court documents actually described Government official 1 as having a reputation for bribe taking.
It reads:
“Government Official 1” had such a reputation as a prolific bribe-collector that within three weeks of the election of the incoming Government, AND BEFORE IT WAS SWORN IN, Airbus reached agreement with brother of “Government Official 1,” described in the US version of Court documents as “Individual 1.”
Respectfully, everyone who is privy to the core details of the series of court documents published by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom cannot allege ignorance of the persons who have brought our nation into this international shame.
Bearing in mind the above realities, it is most unfortunate that your good office has, for political expediency, treated Mr Mahama with kids gloves.
Like most Ghanaians, I have grown skeptical about the lip service being paid to such a huge international corruption involving our former President.
I may not be a lawyer, but I suspect if those countries can benefit in fines from Airbus for corruption which our country was the real victim, then we believe that your investigations if it yields success can create an even bigger case for Ghana to also seek compensation from Airbus for the damage caused to our national treasury.
Respectfully sir, the nonchalant attitude being deployed on this matter ought to give way to real action.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah
Deputy Director of Communications, NPP
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