Cut the hypocrisy, refer 500 missing excavators as well to Amidu – NDC to Akufo-Addo

The largest opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) has urged President Akufo Addo to cut the hypocrisy and refer the missing 500 excavators also to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations.

President Akufo-Addo has referred the Airbus bribery scandal to Mr. Martin Amidu’s office for immediate investigations.

A letter signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.

The reports which emerged after Airbus admitted in a UK court that it paid bribes to officials in some five countries including Ghana between 2009 and 2015 have sparked rumours in Ghana.

But the NDC has challenged President Akufo Addo to apply the same alacrity with which he referred the Airbus issue to the Special Prosecutor to that of the missing 500 excavators which is equally an important matter which needs to be probed.

The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, has disclosed that hundreds of seized ‘galamsey’ excavators have gone missing at the various assemblies.

An Aide to ex-President John Mahama and member of the NDC Legal Team, Lawyer Edudzi Tamaklo in an interview on Okay FM monitored by Kasapafmoline.com said President Akufo Addo will not be allowed to turn a blind eye to the recent corruption cases under his watch including the vanishing of 400 state-owned tricycles.

“We in the NDC welcome the investigations into the Airbus scandal, we are happy because vindication lays in the womb of time. If you want somebody to vindicate you it should be your enemy. But we urge the President to move beyond the Airbus scandal and investigate the several acts of corruption that have occurred under his watch. He should equally cause the issue of the 500 missing excavators to be investigated by the Special Prosecutor. The President is not interested in investigating the case of that because he knows that the investigation will implicate his DCEs and the galamsey taskforce that he’s put together. If this is not hypocrisy or double standards then what else is it” he asked?

Lawyer Tamaklo added: “Right under President Akufo Addo’s nose, we all heard what went on in the AMERI Novation agreement where the President gave Executive approval. It turned out that they’ve inflated the cost by over$800m. Later we were told the President was misled, as we speak the President has not called either the CID or Special Prosecutor’s Office to investigate how he was misled in giving the Executive approval for the AMERI deal. These happened right under the President’s nose but he is not interested, he’s rather interested in what has happened in Britain. This is surprising.”