President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's 2020 decision to report the Airbus controversy to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has drawn criticism from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which claims the move was a political ploy to win over more supporters.
According to a report by the UK's Serious Fraud Office on January 31, 2020, Ghana was included as one of five nations where the multinational aerospace company Airbus SE reportedly participated in bribery or offered payments to senior officials in exchange for business favors between 2009 and 2015.
To avoid corporate criminal charges as a result of the scandal, Airbus agreed to a record-breaking £3 billion settlement with France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
President Akufo-Addo forwarded the matter to the OSP in February 2020 for additional inquiry in reaction to the controversy. On Thursday, August 8, the OSP, however, exonerated former President John Mahama of any misconduct in the arrangement.
The NDC's Head of Legal Affairs, Edudzie Tamekloe, expressed appreciation for the OSP's report in an interview with Eyewitness News but reiterated the party's conviction that the initial referral was driven by politics.
"Clearly, the most corrupt president in Ghana believed that the only way to balance his dubious reputation as the mother serpent of corruption was to file a political complaint against John Dramani Mahama while the investigation was still ongoing.
"Today, Kissi Agyebeng's professionalism in this investigation has fully cleared John Dramani Mahama concerning this conversation on the Airbus."
"Clearly, the most corrupt president in Ghana believed that the only way to balance his dubious reputation as the mother serpent of corruption was to file a political complaint against John Dramani Mahama while the investigation was still ongoing.
"Today, Kissi Agyebeng's professionalism in this investigation has fully cleared John Dramani Mahama concerning this conversation on the Airbus."
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