PPP calls for public enquiry into Ford Expedition gift
The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has called on President John Mahama to publicly publish the assets declaration forms that he completed before and after he became a Member of Parliament, a Minister of State, the Vice-President and the President.
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It has also asked the President to submit himself to a public enquiry to allow for a full public disclosure on the circumstances that led to the award of two contracts to a Burkinabe contractor, Mr Oumarou Djibril Kanazoe, and the subsequent gift to the President of a Ford Expedition.
The party further called for the Burkinabe contractor to face independent investigations and be banned from participating in all Ghana government contracts.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew Hammond, the party called on President Mahama to admit his inability to lead the anti-corruption crusade and decline contesting re-election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The PPP’s demands followed reports that President Mahama had received a brand new Ford Expedition from the Burkinabe contractor who had executed some Ghanaian contracts, both in Ghana and in his native Burkina Faso.
Official response/other matters
Although official response from the Presidency conceded that the President received the $100,000 Ford Expedition, the Communications Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, said it was a gift from the Burkinabe.
According to Nii Hammond, it was interesting to note that the Ford gift came to Ghana in the same year that Mr Kanazoe’s company was awarded the contract for the construction of “bullet proof” walls in Burkina Faso for the Ghana High Commission and the construction of the Dodi Pepesu-Nkwanta section of the Eastern Corridor road at a cost of $650,000 and 25.9 million euros, respectively.
He also asked whether it was a coincidence that the 46-kilometre road was awarded in 2012, just at the time that President Mahama was sworn into office after the demise of President J.E.A Mills.
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“The same Kanazoe was the man who was given the contract to construct a fence wall on a parcel of land owned by the Ghanaian mission in Burkina Faso. With these narratives so far and the fact that the President would even sacrifice local contractors for the Burkinabe, we are tempted to believe media reports that Contractor Kanazoe had a long-standing, good and personal relationship with the then Vice-President Mahama even before he became President. That relationship began flourishing way back in 2010,” Nii Hammond alleged.
He also claimed that the registration details of the vehicle were not in the database of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and also called for photographic evidence of its existence at the Flagstaff House.
Corruption
He said it was the position of the PPP that the fact that the issue was in the public domain made a case for poor judgement against President Mahama and fed into a case of bribery.
“Corruption is a canker and rot that robs the nation of over $1 billion every year and prevents the building of good schools, roads, hospitals and others. So anything that hints of corruption must be condemned and we unreservedly condemn the conduct of our President in the whole scandal,” he maintained.
Nii Hammond said the direct involvement of the President in the deal had compromised his ability to lead the fight against corruption, pointing out that he had violated the code of conduct for public officers and the 1992 Constitution.
Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution states: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.”
Fresh investigations into STX deal
Nii Hammond said the latest development called for fresh and independent investigations into President Mahama’s role in the “abortive STX Korea deal” and urged all contractors, both Ghanaian and foreign, to take a cue from the occurrence and desist from giving gifts to the President, ministers of state and other government officials.
He said it was also the position of the PPP that the President ought to put a freeze on the award of contracts in this election year until a new administration took over in January 2017.
“The PPP is giving notice that an administration that justifies such ‘gift’ taking cannot be trusted to give clean contracts during an election year, so it will not accept any new contracts given by this administration when it assumes power in 2017,” it said.
He also reiterated the party’s position on the crusade against corruption and called for national support, as a matter of urgency, for the separation of the Attorney-General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice, as well as the total separation of Parliament from the Executive arm of the government.