Ghana's parliament dismisses motion to probe president over car gift

Ghana's Parliament on Thursday dismissed a motion filed by the Minority calling for President John Dramani Mahama to be investigated for accepting a car gift from a Burkinabe road contractor.

Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford Expedition SUV vehicle valued at 100,000 U.S. dollars as a gift from Djibril Kanazoe, the Burkinabe contractor, allegedly to influence him.

Addressing the House after a recall from recess, Edward Doe Adjaho, Speaker of the Ghana Parliament, directed the Minority who are members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to pursue the case at the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

He said legal and constitutional provisions indicated that the CHRAJ is the body mandated to deal with all relevant matters relating to the breach of conduct of public officers, including the matter involving the Ford Expedition vehicle.

CHRAJ has already received three separate petitions concerning the same issue and is investigating it.

More than 100 minority MPs signed a proposal submitted to the Speaker, requesting him to recall members from recess to begin the process to probe President Mahama over the car gift.

The request followed an investigative report a couple of months ago which revealed that Kanazoe had confirmed giving the vehicle to Mahama through Ghana's Ambassador to Burkina Faso.

The minority group has expressed disappointment over the Speaker's rejection of the motion.

Source : XINHUA