Gift saga: NDC gives minority 7-day ultimatum to pursue impeachment proceedings

The Minority in parliament has been challenged to pursue impeachment proceedings against President John Mahama for accepting a car if they believe there is any wrongdoing.

There has been heated debate about the car controversy given by Burkinabe businessman Djibirl Kanazoe.

Mr Kanazoe says he presented a Ford Expedition, valued at $100,000, to the President as a gift.

Communications Minister, Dr Omane Boamah, has confirmed that although the President received the gift the luxury vehicle has been added to the Presidential pool of cars.

There have been calls by some political parties for President John Mahama to step down for bringing the office of the president into disrepute.

The Progressive People's Party (PPP) being one of those making the calls, is also insisting that the president should not sign any contract before the November elections and must subject himself to a public inquiry.

However, presidential staffer, Samuel Nartey George threw the challenge on JOYNEWS Election program 'Joint Caucus' on MultiTV, Friday for New Patriotic Party (NPP) who added it voice to the calls.

"I am using your platform to throw a challenge to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament, led by honorable Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu to if you are men of your words, as honorable members of parliament and you think you have a case against John Mahama to start impeachment processes in 7-days," he said.

"If they really know that this is not about a media blitz to distract from the good works the president is doing, the transformational agenda...I am challenging the NPP if they are men of integrity to start the process. If you fail to do that it show this is a plain PR exercise," Mr Nartey added.

But representing the NPP on the program, legal practitioner, Samuel Abu Jinapor insisted there is the need for some probe or investigation to establish a probe.

“The fact the NPP has not initiated impeachment processings doesn’t mean that we will not. If you look at the composition of our parliament, where they see wrong and they will never admit it, it is never likely that an impeachment proceeding will succeed,” Mr. Jinapor said.

He charged his Party to begin the process for the records so that the standard is set that, “if a president receives gifts in this kind of circumstance.”

According to the lawyer, even if the process does not succeed, it will go down in Ghanaian political history that there was a day in the republic of Ghana where a president received a gift from a foreign entity, a businessman, and the minority found it a good reason enough to start impeachment proceedings against him.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected]