Suspicious Aircraft: I’ve Requested Lebanon Ambassador to Assist in Investigations- Jinapor
The Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has written to the Ambassador of the Republic of Lebanon to Ghana, H.E. Maher Kheir, to assist the Ghanaian security and intelligence unit in a comprehensive and bipartisan investigation into the suspicious flights that entered the country last month.
The flights are said to have conveyed money and cocaine but the government has refuted the claims.
The former Lands Minister however finds discrepancies in the narratives offered by the Minister of State for Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu and the evidence available.
The investigation, he said, would help fill the gaps to unravel the full mystery of the planes.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, he wrote, that his independent checks confirmed the Minority’s claims that the two AirMed flights, flew to KIA straight from Gran Canaria, contrary to the Minister’s claim that the flight came from Luanda.
“Questions have, also, been raised about the activity history of the Cavok flights that the Minister referenced, as searches have not shown that these flights flew into the country on the said dates. These and many more questions call for thorough investigations to unravel the mystery behind the movement of these flights.”
“Without a doubt, we cannot be successful in combating these transnational crimes if we fail to investigate allegations such as this; for it is only through investigations that we can establish the veracity or otherwise of such allegations, and where appropriate, prosecute offenders to serve as deterrent to others. It is, also, through such investigations that we can gather credible intelligence to prevent these crimes.”
As such, he said he had written to the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, and Ambassador of the Republic of Lebanon to Ghana, H.E. Maher Kheir, to use diplomatic channels to collaborate with the Ghanaian security and intelligence community to unravel the controversy surrounding the matter.
He warned that the incidents have the propensity to tarnish the good image of the country.
“Transnational organised crime, particularly, involving illicit traffic in drugs and money-laundering, have serious effects, not only on our country but on global security and peace… Such a situation could have serious political, economic and diplomatic implications for our country, and an already troubled region.”
Recommendations
Meanwhile, he called on the Diplomatic Community in Ghana, to intervene by way of the following:
1. Sharing with the Ghanaian security authorities any intelligence they may have on the aircrafts and flights concerned;
2. Facilitating the deployment of the security apparatus of their respective countries to collaborate with the Ghanaian security authorities in any future investigations;
3. Assisting the Ghanaian State, through her arms of Government, generally, and Parliament in particular, to avoid the undesirable, unenvious and dangerous reputation of a drug State;
4. Encouraging, through diplomatic channels, the Ghanaian Government to establish, pursuant to article 278 of Ghana’s Constitution, a Commission of Inquiry to make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the matter of the flights allegedly carrying illicit drugs and money; and
5. Taking a keen interest in the protection of the independence of Ghana’s Parliament in the exercise of its oversight responsibility, and most especially, the safety and protection of the whistleblower, the Hon. John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament for Assin South, and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, as well as other Members of Parliament, in the sacred discharge of their duties as Members of Parliament.
