The National Democratic Congress, NDC says they are considering legal actions against NPP’s Communications Director Yaw Buaben Asamoa for alleging that John Mahama is Government official 1 in the Airbus corruption scandal.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen on Monday, NDC’s communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi said they are in talks with their lawyers to sue Yaw Buaben Asamoa.
According to him, linking former President John Mahama to the Airbus bribery allegation is ‘reckless and irresponsible’ on the part of Yaw Buaben Asamoa.
Sammy Gyamfi stated that the Crown Court in its wisdom did not cite any names because natural justice requires them to give the accused person a hearing before citing their names.
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He also explained that the ruling did not state that the workers of Airbus have admitted to committing bribery but rather the company has admitted of not putting in place measures to avoid bribery and corruption.
Yaw Buaben Asamoa
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) said all fingers allegedly points to John Mahama who was president at the time Airbus deal was struck.
They then branded in him as the “Government Official 1” mentioned in a bribery allegation involving the European aviation giant, Airbus.
At a news conference in Accra February 3, 2020, Communication Director of the party, Yaw Buabeng Asamoa asked the former president to officially respond to the court documents.
“In the face of these facts, it is very necessary for president Mahama to come out and be heard publicly,” Mr. Buabeng Asamoah said.
“He cannot continue to hide behind his party members including a former attorney general. Of course, we are all aware that he hates answering questions on corruption but he must answer because at this moment all fingers point to him and one of his brothers”
” He was the President at the time and presided over this deal so he has to come out and tell Ghanaians if he was involved or not”.
NDC reacts
Reacting to the bribery claims, former Attorney General & Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong in a statement argued that media reports on the issue did not capture the true reflection of the approved judgment 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.”
Case
Airbus has confessed to paying bribes in Ghana and other countries between 2011 and 2015 in a corruption investigation of its business deals dating back more than a decade.
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Court documents obtained by theghanareport.com show that Europe’s largest plane maker has been fined 3 billion pounds for greasing the palms of public officials and fixers over a string of hidden payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption to facilitate the sales of its wares.
President’s directive
President Akufo-Addo has directed the Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterparts to probe the Airbus bribery allegations.
According to a statement from the Presidency, President Akufo-Addo wants “necessary legal action taken against any such official, cited in the report as required by Ghanaian law.”
