Ford Saga: Speaker of Parliament dismisses impeachment motion
The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho has dismissed a motion tabled by the minority members of the house aimed at investigating President John Mahama for accepting a car gift from a Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanozoe.
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The Speaker citing several constitutional provisions and parliamentary precedents on Thursday afternoon rejected the motion and ordered the clerk to return it to the Member who filed it.
He explained that the matter was already being investigated by another constitutional body, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Mr Adjaho advised the minority members of the house to pursue the issue at the CHRAJ.
He also adjourned the house sine die (without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing).
Background
In June this year, Joy FM broadcast an investigative piece by Manasseh Azure that the President had received a Ford Expedition vehicle gift from Mr Kanazoe.
The contractor, apart from winning a contract to fence the country’s embassy in Burkina Faso, is also said to have won bids in the road construction sector.
Civil society organisations and some Ghanaians were of the view that the President is complicit in accepting the gift, as it is against the code of conduct for public officers in the country.
The CHRAJ, upon petitions from the Minority in Parliament, the Youth Wing of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) wrote to the President for his side of the matter.
The President, through his lawyer, Mr Tony Lithur, responded on July 18, 2016, saying that he was not aware when the gift was sent to him and that he consigned the vehicle for the use by the state when the gift was brought to his attention.
Mr Lithur asked CHRAJ to dismiss the petitions, as they were without foundation.
