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Airbus Scandal: Speaker Holds Request For Probe

Parliament Airbus Scandal: Speaker Holds Request For Probe
FEB 7, 2020 LISTEN

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye has put on hold a request for the House to probe the Airbus SE bribery scandal.

The House approved an agreement for the purchase of the Airbus CASA 295 military aircraft after a heated debate in 2011.

A recent judgment on the airline's procurement processes in the UK and US alleging the payment of bribes in exchange of high-value contracts has re-ignited calls for public scrutiny.

Assin South MP, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, presented a statement to the house urging members to set up a full-blown parliamentary inquiry into the matter.

“Mr. Speaker, with due regard for the diligent commitment exhibited by President Akufo-Addo in respect of the judgment by the UK and USA courts in relation to the Airbus SE bribery scandal, as demonstrated by promptly charging the Office of the Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterpart to conduct inquiry into determining the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present and to take the necessary action required by Ghanaian law, I, in the spirit of patriotism, do accordingly implore the House to explore our legitimate option fortified by Order 191 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, to conduct inquiry into the matter, as an independent institution, to establish complicity or otherwise of Ghanaian government officials, past or present, relative to this Airbus bribery scandal,” he requested.

But after a debate on the Floor of the House, the Speaker of Parliament ruled that the matter has been put on hold, and will be revisited due to its complexity.

“As a House of debate, this House has competently, generally, dealt with this matter, considering the circumstances of this matter in its totality and the technical prerequisites for examining it in full and mindful of the referral already to the Special Prosecutor's Office and not forgetting that at any time, this House can by any of its appropriate procedures go further into the matter. We will hold our horses by what I will rule now and we shall revisit it in due season,” he said.

—citinewsroom

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