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The government has confirmed that it has started efforts to have the country’s share of Airbus compensation repatriated to Ghana.
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the government, since June this year, has been engaged with an international law firm with extensive investigative and anti-corruption experience to see how they can best help Ghana repatriate its share of the fines.
International courts fined Airbus, the international aircraft manufacturer, approximately $ 3.9 billion in compensation for admitting that it paid bribes to various international players as part of its operations.
Records available to the government suggest that around $ 30 million of the fine is due to bribes paid to government officials in Ghana.
The government’s approach is not without precedent. For example, in 2008 the United States, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan established an NGO, the BOTA Foundation, to manage the return of more than $ 100 million that had been paid in bribes to senior Kazakh officials through US and Swiss bank accounts.
This process allowed the repatriated funds to be used in projects of the utmost importance to the government of Kazakhstan; ultimately benefiting the Kazakh people.
Back in Kyrgyzstan, the United States repatriated stolen assets from the former Kyrgyz regime of Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his son, Maxim, who had been identified in an insider trading case in New York and were collected and approved for repatriation.
The Kyrgyz Republic agreed to use the funds to improve public access to health care and new water supply systems for rural populations.
The government hopes that any portion of the recovered fines will be used exclusively to enhance the capacities of Ghana’s anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.
The deputy from Ofoase Ayeribi said the government is also collaborating with international investigative agencies in efforts to bring the people behind the scandal to the book.
Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, is alleged to have paid bribes in Ghana when it sold the three military aircraft.
The aerospace multinational admitted to hiring the brother of a senior Ghanaian elected official as a consultant for the launch to sell the plane to the country.
Once again, Airbus confessed to having paid said consultant through a third party when its Compliance Unit raised red flags about the close relationship between the consultant and the top elected official, who was a key decision maker in the purchase of the military aircraft. .
Former special counsel Martin Amidu singled out NDC flag bearer John Mahama as the Ghanaian official 1 who used his brother to receive Ghana’s share of the bribes.
However, he was unable to complete his investigations before leaving office.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also confirmed that international investigations also reveal that the individuals involved in the Ghanaian part of the scandal have recently been questioned and more are expected to follow soon.
