The Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, has cautioned Ghanaians not it hand power to former President John Dramani Mahama or face their greatest fear of going into modern slavery.
He noted that the flag bearer of the Opposition National Democratic Congress has no better plans for the country than involving himself in corrupt deals in order for him to amass wealth for his family hence his desperation to win political power again.
“John Mahama is the most corrupt person to have ever ruled Ghana, he should not be allowed near the presidency again…he will auction Ghana when offer the opportunity to come any close to the presidency again…,” he said.
Abronye’s comment follows recent Airbus bribery scandal involving some Ghanaian government officials who ruled Ghana between 2009 and 2015.
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The multinational aerospace company is believed to have paid huge amount of monies to some high government officials in order to secure contracts to operate in the country.
Abronye is of the view that Government official 1 is Mr. Mahama who according to him, was being investigated for a similar crime.
“Mahama is the first elected Government Official 1 so the President at the time cannot be absorbed from blame…it is John Mahama and he is very corrupt”.
Background
Airbus, Europe’s largest airplane manufacturer, admitted to paying bribes in Ghana and other countries between 2011 and 2015 in a sweeping investigation dating back to almost a decade.
The company has been fined 3 billion pounds for bribing 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.
“The planemaker agreed to pay the penalties on Friday after reaching settlements with investigators in the UK, France, and the US to end inquiries that started four years ago,” UK’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
The report follows the outcome of UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation that “Allison Clare, for the SFO, told the court the company had paid bribes in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan and Ghana between 2011 and 2015.”
Airbus is accused of hiring and disguising payments to a close relative of a government officials in Ghana with no aerospace experience in connection with a sale of military transport planes, the SFO said.
The SFO noted that the bribery was intended to obtain or retain business or advantage in the conduct of business for Airbus.
According to the court document between 2009 and 2015 an Airbus defence company engaged an unnamed person, only identified as Intermediary 5, a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghana government official (also not named but referred to as Government Official 1), as its business partner in respect of the proposed sale of three aircraft to the government of Ghana.
“A number of ofAirbus employees knew that Intermediary five was a close relative of Government Official 1, a key decision-maker in respect of the sales.
However, “a number of Airbus employees made or promised success based commission payments of approximately €5 million to Intermediary 5.
“False documentation was created by or with the agreement of Airbus employees in order to support and disguise these payments. The payments were intended to induce or reward improper favour by the Government Official 1towards Airbus,” the document suggests.
The document, said between 2009 and 2015 an Airbus defence company engaged an unnamed person, only identified as Intermediary 5, a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghana government official (also not named but referred to as Government Official 1), as its business partner in respect of the proposed sale of three aircraft to the government of Ghana.