NDC not 'interested' in finding out identities of 'coded names' in Airbus scandal - MP

Member of Parliament for Assin South Constituency in the Central Region on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has wondered why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears not to be too keen on finding out the real identities of Government Official 1 and Intermediary 5 in Airbus SE bribery scandal.

According to him, it is obviously an NDC government official who is being mentioned in the Crown Court ruling regarding the Airbus bribery scandal since no other political party, aside the NDC, was in power between 2009 and 2015.

The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in the five countries named Ghana.

The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (£3bn) as penalties.

Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.

Airbus has admitted paying bribes in order to secure contracts in Ghana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

In the case of Ghana, the operations were reported to have taken place between 2009 and 2015; during which former President Mahama served as vice president and subsequently president.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Hon. Ntim Fordjour wondered why the Minority NDC in Parliament became agitated when he proposed on the floor of Parliament the need for the House to also inquire about the people behind the coded names, Government Official 1 and Intermediary 5.

“No matter the name that will be mentioned at the end of the investigation, the person will be a member of the NDC because NPP was not in power then. The NDC should rather have called for the probe when the Airbus bribery scandal came up to ascertain the truth in the scandal because NDC was in power and the scandal will affect the image of their party.”



“They [NDC] should have supported my motion when I raised the issue on the floor of Parliament so that if at the end of any investigation, it turns out that there was no wrong-doing on the part of the officials cited in the ruling, Ghana can take the countries that made those lousy rulings (UK, USA & France) on. But if it is established who Government Official 1 and Intermediary 5 are, then the laws of Ghana can deal with them in terms of bribery and corruption," he indicated.

Commenting on the reaction of the Speaker of Parliament with regards to Parliamentary Inquiry into the Airbus scandal, Hon. Ntim Fordjour said that Rt. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye did not categorically turn down his proposal.

“What the Speaker of Parliament said in response to my motion was that Parliament has the power to investigate any issue which bothers on public interest which includes the Airbus bribery scandal and nobody can suppress that power but he urges the House to be patient and allow the Special Prosecutor to investigate due to complicity of the case”, he asserted.

The Assin South MP also disclosed that the Speaker of Parliament was clear with his emphasis that the House can come back to probe the Airbus bribery scandal at any point in time if Parliament deems it fit to make an inquiry into the scandal.