Ghana to probe bribery accusations in Airbus deal

Ghana has ordered a probe into accusations of bribery by European planemaker Airbus to ensure the purchase of three military planes between 2009 and 2015. Ghana was among over a dozen countries involved in a $4-billion settlement Airbus agreed with European and U.S. regulators concerning alleged bribes to clinch sales of its aircraft.

Airbus hired - and disguised about 5 million euros in payments to - a close relative of a government official in Ghana with no aerospace experience in connection with the sale of the planes, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Friday. The SFO's disclosures, made public after a nearly four-year investigation, came as courts on both sides of the Atlantic formally approved settlements that lift a legal cloud that has hung over Europe's largest aerospace group for years.

But in Ghana the matter looks set to continue. The West African country will "conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present," President Nana Akufo-Addo’s office said in a statement late on Sunday.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was in power at the time, denied the bribery claims in a statement on Sunday. "The reports alleging that Airbus SE paid bribes during the administration of President John Atta Mills and John Mahama are false," the statement said.

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