Airbus scandal will affect our corruption perception – Justice Emile Short

Former Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Mr Emile Short says the alleged bribery Airbus scandal that cited government officials from Ghana by UK court documents will affect the country’s corruption perception.

According to him, it is important in the matter of public interest that the case is dealt with immediately because a number of corruption cases which have not been adequately addressed, has already affected the corruption ranking.

“It is unfortunate that Ghana has been implicated in this Airbus scandal. It will affect our corruption perception. We have seen a number of corruption cases which have not been adequately addressed and this has affected our corruption ranking,” Justice Emile Short told JoyFM.

Ghana was ranked 80 out of 180 countries/territories on the 2019 global Corruption Perception Index, (CPI), according to Transparency International (TI).

Justice Short adds that the main reason for the stagnation in Ghana’s corruption ranking is the country’s inability to implement the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACAP) which is expected to place a premium on public awareness of corruption to reduce corruption tolerance levels.

“We are very weak when it comes to accountability. We are not seeing enough of prosecutions of persons who have been implicated in corrupt acts”

“I think we are not winning the battle and war against corruption. I don't think the political leadership appreciates what it takes to win the war against corruption. Most of our financial irregularities occur in our Ministries Department and Agencies,” he added.

The NACAP, however, is coordinated and monitored by the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) with the office of President as the lead implementing agency.

Emile Short indicated that he is rather confident in the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Martin Amidu to do a good job adding that; “he has a good track record with his competence, integrity and independence.”

Last week, Ghana was cited by a UK court document revealing that some top representatives from the government of Ghana under the John Mahama administration took bribes to procure three Airbus C-295 aircrafts for the Ghana Army.