Mr. Amidu, in a statement, said his claim is based on a letter from the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso to the border authorities at Paga, dated 29^th October, 2012.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Pn2mTpLTur7HiMFL91qIwSdKp8AhQZqi”]According to him, after President Mahama had assumed office following former President John Evans Atta Mill’s death, he was heading into the elections of 2012 “unprepared financially.”

“However, the President’s friend and beneficiary of contracts, when the President had assumed office, was ready to provide financial support,” the former AG narrated.

He indicated that the only way funds could be unconstitutionally imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso was to be “ingenious through the Ford Expedition and a wrapper, wrapping the many dollars needed for the Mahama Campaign. No searches, no questions.”

Mr. Amidu added that the money would have been “retrieved from the vehicle in Accra and the Ford Expedition is useless thereafter to the President.”

CHRAJ investigation a farce

Mr. Amidu also slammed the Commission on Human rights and Administrative Justice’s (CHRAJ) investigation into the Ford gift saga as a sham.

“CHRAJ has no jurisdiction but the President was too happy to have his own institution purport to clear him – a farce to make the public believe the President has the people’s interests at heart and that his institutions will protect the public purse. But all this while, it covered an unconstitutional scheme at election time,” Mr Amidu stated.

Find here Mr. Amidu’s statement

Background

Earlier in 2016, President Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford gift worth about US$100,000 allegedly to influence him when he was vice President in 2012.

The Burkinabe contractor in question, Djibril Kanazoe, admitted giving President Mahama the Ford Expedition vehicle, for which the President called to thank him.

The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project.

The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou.

CHRAJ, following its investigation of the matter, stated that President Mahama breached the gift policy when he accepted the gift,

The Commission, however, stated that the President’s action did not constitute a conflict of interest, bribery or fraud, as the petitioners to it, the youth wing of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), had claimed.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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“The report leaves much to be desired and we think that there could have been a better way of reaching the conclusion that every Ghanaian would want in line with good governance practices,” the CPP Youth League Secretary, Hardi Yakubu said to Citi News.

CHRAJ was petitioned by the Youth wing of the CPP, and two others, to investigate the president’s acceptance of the $100,000 car from a Burkinabe contractor, as Vice President in 2012, which they said amounted to a conflict of interest and corruption.

But CHRAJ in its report released on Thursday, noted that, it did not find the President guilty of bribery, fraud or conflict of interest, but said President Mahama breached the gift policy.

Mr. Yakubu contends that, the resolution of the report was contradictory, and did not measure up to the standards of good governance because, “if you look at the code of conduct, it was enacted to prevent public officials from being in conflict of interest situations. For us, there could have been a better way of looking at the facts and the evidence to reach a better conclusion on this matter,” he stated.

What CHRAJ said…

CHRAJ said the gift in question formed part of gifts prohibited under the Gift Policy under the Code of Conduct, and that although the evidence shows that President Mahama subsequently surrendered the gift to the State, the action nonetheless contravened the gift policy.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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“Your flagbearer [Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom] was investigated by the SFO [now EOCO]  and the report is all over the place. So if you want to go that tangent, bring it on, we would be ready to hear whatever stuff you want to put out there and we would listen to you with rapt attention and I can assure you that if you want to go on that tangent, I have people ready for you,” a member of the NDC, Kojo Adu Asare, said on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue, on Saturday.

The PPP, the youth wing of the CPP, and a private citizen, petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate President Mahama for accepting the Ford gift in 2012 from a Burkinabe contractor, who is said to have benefited from some lucrative government projects .

CHRAJ after the investigation said it did not find the President guilty of bribery, fraud or conflict of interest; but said the President only breached the gift policy.

However, the PPP has threatened to pursue the case to its logical conclusion.

Adu Asare says the NDC is ready to defend the President, and would not mind exposing the wrongs of the PPP Flagbearer in retaliation.

“You should also bear in mind that, there are skeletons in people’s cupboards and as we speak, whilst you have bent to pick up a stone to hit some bear that is sitting somewhere, there are others who are also taking a good view of your back side so be careful the kind of things you put out there.”

Go to court if you don’t trust CHRAJ’s report

He also said persons who do not trust CHRAJ’s report could pursue the case to which ever level they want.

“For those who feel aggrieved just like any case that goes to court, if they feel aggrieved by the determination of this issue with the CHRAJ they are at liberty to move to whichever level that they think they can get something better than this. But we will not leave in the past with them. We will move on, we will do our work, its election time and the president is going to continue to remain focused,” he added.

SFO investigates Nduom

Dr. Nduom, who was working with the Public Enterprises Commission (PEC), was in 1995 investigated by the SFO [now Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO)] over allegations of corruption and tax evasion.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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According to him, claims by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that the president satisfied all laws were not accurate.

He explained in an interview with Citi News that gifts are taxable by law and since the president confessed that the car was a gift he ought to have been paid taxes on it.

“In Ghana when you receive a gift from any source and once you term it a gift you must pay some form of taxes on it. So when the CHRAJ says that the President erred on a policy, it was not a policy it is a law. If somebody is claiming that the President had paid all the taxes it is not true, it is just an afterthought maybe it is a corrective measure that somebody has taken because that person is in CHRAJ, it is a bribe but CHRAJ is trying to say that it is a gift. It is very unethical.”

“I can tell you clearly that if there is a God that is watching us, that God can testify that the President did not pay that gift tax. When this matter broke up if the Presidency had that information because these were the questions everybody was asking that information would have been brought out long time,” he added.

CHRAJ report

CHRAJ in its report released on Thursday after investigating the Ford gift saga, stated that President Mahama breached the gift policy, when he accepted the gift from a Burkinabe contractor as Vice President in 2012.

CHRAJ said the gift in question, formed part of acts prohibited under the ‘Gift Policy’ under the Code of Conduct, and that although the evidence shows that President Mahama subsequently surrendered the gift to the State, the action nonetheless contravened the gift policy. It however noted that, it did not find the President guilty of bribery, fraud or conflict of.

CHRAJ report shames critics

But the Co-ordinator of the 2016 National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaign, Kofi Adams argued that the CHRAJ report vindicates the president.

“Today is a day of shame for them, they [critics] have been exposed that they are only trying to destroy a gem, a pearl that we have,” he said.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Mahama didn’t pay taxes on Ford vehicle – Nitiwul insists   appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking to Citi News, the Secretary to the CPP youth wing, Hardi Yakubu, warned that undue delay could raise public suspicion over perceived inactivity from CHRAJ.

“This expedition is not being seen by the public and that is why questions will begin to be raised as to why all this while we haven’t really heard anything from them [CHRAJ],” he said.

The Commission earlier stated that, though its investigations had reached advanced stages, Ghanaians should exercise patience to enable them adequately deal with the matter.

In response to the comments from CHRAJ, Mr. Yakubu said the Commission was “making the argument that because the matter is of importance, they need to take their time and do diligent work and we appreciate that.”

He however added that, CHRAJ needed to,”balance the two so that the need for more time to do proper work doesn’t necessarily compromise the expeditious discharge of the matter as appropriate.”

Background

President John Dramani Mahama came under intense public scrutiny for accepting the car gift worth about US$100,000 from a Burkinabe contractor, allegedly to influence him.

The Burkinabe, Djibril Kanazoe, has admitted giving President Mahama a Ford Expedition vehicle, for which the President called to thank him.

The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project.

The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou.

CPP, PPP petition CHRAJ

CHRAJ was petitioned by the youth wing of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), and a private citizen to investigate the matter.

Critics are of the view that; the $100,000 dollar Ford vehicle gift presented to President Mahama in 2012, when he was Vice President, amounts to conflict of interest, and that he must be impeached since the contractor, Djibril Kanazoe, is also said to have been awarded some lucrative government contracts.

Speaker throws out minority motion

The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, last Thursday; threw out a motion filed by the Minority calling for parliamentary investigations into the matter.

The Speaker argued that, CHRAJ has the legal and constitutional mandate and the capacity to deal with the matter.

CHRAJ as part of investigations, has already interrogated some high ranking government officials including former Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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