The Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Enam Hadzide has said government will get to the bottom of the Airbus saga involving officials of the Atta Mills-John Mahama administration.
Speaking on Okay FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com, the deputy minister who was himself entangled in a corruption probe during the Commonwealth games in Australia said government expects the Special Prosecutor to take steps to immediately expose the names and nature of the issues in the airbus saga.
“The Special Prosecutor has been given the task to get to the bottom of this matter because it is a big disgrace for Ghana in the whole world. All over the world, Ghana’s name has come up under bribery and corruption and it is not good. We trust that Martin Amidu will take action and unravel things for Ghanaians to see” he said.
Martin Amidu has himself alleged in the past that late President Atta Mills commissioned an investigation into an aircraft deal involving John Mahama then as Vice President. It is unclear whether this is Airbus deal is the same as that one.
Meanwhile the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied reports that Airbus paid bribes to some government officials during the administration of the late Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills and John Mahama.
The party in a statement signed by former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong argued that media reports on the issue did not capture the true reflection of the approved judgement of the case in the UK.
The NDC statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports about a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) entered between Airbus SE and the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office in respect of the practice of Airbus SE in paying commission to its agents and the use of those commissions.
“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.
“It is therefore a gross distortion for the media to conclude that officials of the Ghana Government between 2009 and 2015 were bribed or paid any commissions by Airbus for the acquisition of the Casa C-295 aircrafts.”
