Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, has condemned a press conference by the Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Buabeng Asamoah, on the raging airbus bribery scandal.
At the said press conference, the NPP official named former president John Dramani Mahama as the person described in the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) report on the Airbus bribery case as “Government Official 1”.
But Mr Innusah has described the actions of Mr Buabeng Asamoah and his party as unethical, gross impunity and unprofessional.
Speaking on Joy News’ AM Show, Mr Inussah who is also a legal practitioner, explained that the judge of the UK court made it categorically clear that because of human rights considerations and the fact that persons connected to the matter were not criminals, it would be inappropriate to mention their names.
He said it was for that reason, therefore, that he finds it wrong that the NPP would go ahead and mention names of persons in connection with that matter.
I will say it without any fear of doubt. What the director of communications for the NPP did by holding a press conference to name persons as being directly connected with the airbus scandal was totally unprofessional, he said.
The judge of the UK court even made it clear that those persons have not been convicted and it would be a breach of human rights if their names are mentioned and then NPP goes ahead to mention names. This level of impunity can only happen in NPP, he added.
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Airbus agreed on Friday to pay a record $4 billion fine after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors in the United Kingdom, France and United States over acts of bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years.
Ghana, during the Mills-Mahama administration, was said to be among some 13 countries that allegedly benefited from bribes paid by Airbus.
According to the Statement of Facts, between 2009 and 2015, “a number of Airbus employees made or promised success based commission payments of approximately €5 million to Intermediary 5”, who is said to be “a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghanaian Government official (Government Official 1)”.
Mr Fuseini, a former Roads Minister under the Mahama administration, cautioned against names being mentioned in relation to the scandal as persons named in connection with the issue can seek recourse in the law courts.