NDC breaks silence; describes reports as misleading

The National Democratic Congress ( NDC) broken its silence in the infamous Airbus Scandal in which members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) are pointing accusing fingers at some former appointees.

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It has in a matter-of-fact press statement has called out
the media for distorting and misreporting on the Airbus scandal in which,
Airbus SE, the plane maker, has agreed to pay a huge fine in a Deferred
Prosecution Agreement (DPA) in the UK, stressing that “reports that Airbus
SE paid bribes during the administration of President John Evans Atta Mills and
John Dramani are false, misleading and do not reflect the Approved
Judgement.”

The press statement, signed by former Attorney-General and
Minister of Justice Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, is emphatic that the Deferred
Prosecution Agreement ( DPA) ” does not allege that any payment was made
by Airbus to any Ghanaian Government Official.”

Media reports suggest that the DPA between Airbus and the UK
Serious Fraud Office claim that government officials of Ghana received
mouthwatering bribes to facilitate the purchase of Airbus aircraft between 2009
and 2015. Though the agreement names no officials, it refers to Government
Official 1 and some intermediaries with connections to government at the time.

But the NDC is categorical that no such claim is contained
in the agreement

“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.

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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,” the press statement stressed.

Source:MyNewsGh.com/Stephen Zoure/2020