Aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has confessed to paying bribes in Ghana and other countries between 2011 and 2015 in a corruption investigation of its business deals dating back more than a decade.
The multinational company was fined £3 billion as penalties after a High Court in London found them guilty in what has been described by anti-corruption investigators as the largest ever corporate fine for bribery in the world.
According to The Guardian Report, Airbus was found guilty on the grounds of paying bribes in “Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan and Ghana between 2011 and 2015.”
With regards to Ghana, the report further stated that Airbus “between 2009 and 2015 engaged intermediary 5, a close relative of a high-ranking elected Ghanaian government official (Government Official 1), as its BP in respect of the proposed sale of three aircraft to the government of Ghana. A number of Airbus employees knew that intermediary 5 was a close relative of Government Official 1, a key decision-maker in respect of the sales.
A number of Airbus employees made or promised success-based commission payments of approximately £5 million to the intermediary. 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 1 towards Airbus,” parts of the prosecution case relating to Ghana read.
The global issue has become a major talking point in the West African country with many descending on the erstwhile administration as being the main beneficiaries of the corrupt act.
Some discerning social media users have started tracing dots on how the late President John Atta-Mills appointed a committee to investigate the processes of the acquisition of five aircrafts under his administration. However, after Atta-Mills died the commission was not made public.
A few others have also translated the ‘elected Ghanaian government official’ named in the report as the former president whiles others try to decode who ‘intermediary 5’ could be. Intermediary 5, according to the court document, is a UK national born in Ghana.
Another twitter user also dug out the former President’s interview where he was asked if ever took bribe.
With a barely 10-months to the general elections many wonder if the NDC’s flagbearer will be able to lead the party to victory by overcoming several corrupt acts linked to him.