{"id":2677,"date":"2024-08-13T04:59:41","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T04:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghnewsbay.com\/?p=2677"},"modified":"2024-08-13T04:59:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T04:59:41","slug":"airbus-scandal-owusu-bempah-says-special-prosecutor-did-a-shoddy-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ghnewsbay.com\/?p=2677","title":{"rendered":"Airbus scandal: Owusu Bempah say’s Special Prosecutor \u201cdid a shoddy job\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Ernest Owusu Bempa<\/a> the convener of the Fixing the Country movement, <\/span>has said that his movement is giving the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) 14 days to reinvestigate the Airbus scandal case<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking on the\u00a0<\/span>Asaase Breakfast Show<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on Monday (12 August), \u201cWe are saying that we are giving the OSP 14 days to open the case and make sure that he reinvestigates the case again, get all the documents he is fortunate to have gotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to<\/span>\u00a0Owusu Bempah<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0finds it difficult to understand why the OSP claims\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>not have<\/span>\u00a0enough evidence on the<\/span>\u00a0Airbus scandal<\/span><\/a>\u00a0case<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAirbus themselves agreed to pay a penalty of about \u20ac4 billion to the people involved for allegedly the crime\u00a0<\/span>that they\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0committed in paying bribes to government officials. So what evidence does the Special Prosecutor\u00a0<\/span>needs<\/span>\u00a0when it comes to the evidence that has been\u00a0<\/span>clearly<\/span>\u00a0put out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the OSP has been given all the adequate resources that any investigative body should have in any part of\u00a0<\/span>Africa<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>any part of<\/span>\u00a0the world to carry out an independent investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the OSP, we can say that simply did a shoddy job and that the culprits to answer charges against them and not to engage in whitewashing as he has done\u00a0<\/span>right now<\/span>\u00a0on the whole investigative report.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to<\/span>\u00a0Owusu Bempah<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0finds it difficult to understand why the OSP claims\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>not have<\/span>\u00a0enough evidence on the<\/span>\u00a0Airbus scandal<\/span><\/a>\u00a0case<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAirbus themselves agreed to pay a penalty of about \u20ac4 billion to the people involved for allegedly the crime\u00a0<\/span>that they\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0committed in paying bribes to government officials. So what evidence does the Special Prosecutor\u00a0<\/span>needs<\/span>\u00a0when it comes to the evidence that has been\u00a0<\/span>clearly<\/span>\u00a0put out there.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the OSP has been given all the adequate resources that any investigative body should have in any part of\u00a0<\/span>Africa<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>any part of<\/span>\u00a0the world to carry out an independent investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the OSP, we can say that simply did a shoddy job and that the culprits to answer charges against them and not to engage in whitewashing as he has done\u00a0<\/span>right now<\/span>\u00a0on the whole investigative report.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, Airbus had already accepted the\u00a0<\/span>complicity of the officials<\/span>, hence the defer prosecution agreement by the US justice and then UK Fraud office.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Owusu Bempah emphasised that the OSP\u2019s report that there isn\u2019t enough evidence is \u2018ridiculous\u2019, \u201cSo I don\u2019t see why the OSP is coming out with\u00a0<\/span>such such<\/span>\u00a0a ridiculous report and telling the whole nation that there has not no evidence against.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhy is he there as a Special Prosecutor?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the OSP\u2019s report is\u00a0<\/span>totally<\/span>\u00a0unacceptable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, the evidence I\u2019ve\u00a0<\/span>showed<\/span>\u00a0you and I\u2019ve explained to you that about themselves, the giver of the bribe, the giver or the person who negotiated for the deal to go through the court<\/span>,\u00a0 .<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 It means that some monies were paid, but the intention of gift giving may not be interpreted in the same way by the recipient as it is by the giver of the gift. Why is it that Ghana, we are just trying to whitewash this and get away with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that one of the individuals named in the scandal, former President John Dramani Mahama is seeking to contest as president hence the need for a thorough investigation on the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not forget we are a country that has a history of a political party where its leader is now seeking the highest office of the land\u00a0<\/span>came<\/span> out of a revolution where people died out of corruption.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody whose political party came out of revolution and seeking the highest office of the land has been involved in such big corruption scandal in the world and we are leaving it just like that as a country and the OSP say, Oh, it doesn\u2019t have anything to do with it. And so we should leave it with it,\u201d Owsu Bempah said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Petition<\/strong><\/h4>\n

He added that the Fixing the Country Movement will petition President Akufo-Addo to trigger a public inquiry\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0camera.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done it before; national reconciliation when President Rawlings was brought before the people of Ghana to come and answer questions on the revolution. We believe that this can be done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo Mahama must come and sit before the people of Ghana and exonerate himself. What did he know about the Airbus matter? With competent people sitting on the commission of inquiry set by the president to make sure that John Mahama and his accomplices come before the people of Ghana to answer questions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that in order not to set a bad precedent in this country the former president must be held accountable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to set a bad precedent because the country went into a revolution because of corruption and people lost their lives\u2026 \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 we\u2019re sending a petition to the US embassy, the British High Commission, all anti-corruption agencies and all the security agencies who come into this matter to address it head-on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a nation, we\u00a0<\/span>need to<\/span>\u00a0take it seriously and deal with it head-on\u2026 it\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>a very serious<\/span>\u00a0matter, but some might argue that it\u2019s part of the business of institution building that we should allow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment Official 1\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, mentioned John Dramani Mahama as one of the referenced individuals in the UK and US court judgments that indicted the Airbus company and\u00a0<\/span>a number of<\/span>\u00a0top government officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday (8 August), the Special Prosecutor said John Mahama did not play any role in the scandal and found no corruption or corruption-related offence against the\u00a0<\/span>former president<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and his brother, Samuel Adam Mahama.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Airbus deal<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ghana bought three military\u00a0<\/span>airplanes<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 C295s \u2013 from Airbus. The nation received its first C295 in November 2011. The second aircraft was\u00a0<\/span>received<\/span>\u00a0in April 2012 and the third in November 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

The deals covering them were argued at the time to\u00a0<\/span>be in line<\/span> with the 2009-2012 Strategic Plan of the Ghana Armed Forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

All three purchases, approved by Ghana\u2019s Parliament after heated disagreements on the floor, were marketed by the government of the day as a drive to modernise Ghana\u2019s Air Force.<\/span><\/p>\n

Funding for the first two C295s came from a \u20ac60,034,636 loan facility from Deutsche Bank SAE.<\/span><\/p>\n

A further \u20ac11.75 million loan from Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd was also approved by Parliament during the period\u00a0<\/span>for the acquisition of<\/span>\u00a0two DA42 MPP Guardian surveillance aircraft for the Ghana Air Force.<\/span><\/p>\n

The House also approved a total loan sum of US$105,370,177.09 from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)\u00a0<\/span>for the purchase of<\/span>\u00a0an Embraer E190 jet for Ghana.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Embraer agreement was to cover related spare parts,\u00a0<\/span>appropriate<\/span>\u00a0accessories as well as the construction of a hangar big enough to house three large aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: www.asaaseradio.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Ernest Owusu Bempa the convener of the Fixing the Country movement, has said that his movement is giving the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) 14 days to reinvestigate the Airbus scandal case Speaking on the\u00a0Asaase Breakfast Show\u00a0on Monday (12 August), \u201cWe are saying that we are giving the OSP 14 days to open the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured"},"yoast_head":"\nAirbus scandal: Owusu Bempah say's Special Prosecutor \u201cdid a shoddy job\u201d - Gh-newsbay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ghnewsbay.com\/?p=2677\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airbus scandal: Owusu Bempah say's Special Prosecutor \u201cdid a shoddy job\u201d - 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