A group calling itself Forum for Accountability and Development of Sefwi has petitioned the President to set up a commission of inquiry to look into the procurement of all military equipment by the government from 2009 to 2015.
According to the group, the latest international corporate scandal in the matter of UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Vrs AIRBUS SE “appears to ring a bell of disturbing dimensions in terms of how military equipment are procured to support operations of the Ghana Armed Forces.”
The petition, which was signed by Dawda Eric, the general secretary of the group, says corruption, which has become a cancerous tumor on the country, should not be allowed to fester, hence the call for investigations.
According to the petitioners, it is on record that the late President Atta Mills had had cause to complain about how military equipment, including aircraft, were procured in the country during his tenure of office.
They added that the purchase of the infamous Embraer 190, which compelled him to set up a special committee to investigate the entire transaction, should offer enough justification for such an inquiry.
“We believe that the Airbus scandal provides your high office the opportunity to constitute an independent commission of inquiry to look into every single military equipment procured in 2009-2015 in order to get a concrete recommendation that would help cure the loopholes that have been created as a result of seeming lack of due diligence on the part of the Ghana Armed Forces Council whose mandates are clearly stated in Armed Forces Council Act, 1962 (Act 105),” the petitioners said.
“We are verily aware and believe same to be true that, your government having won the 2016 election on a campaign of a spirited fight against any form of corruption would put this request under a consideration for the goodness of this country,” it added.
