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01.09.2016 Headlines

Impeachment of Mahama Is A Waste of Time -Bagbin

By Ghanaian Chronicle
Impeachment of Mahama Is A Waste of Time -Bagbin
01.09.2016 LISTEN

By Maxwell Ofori, Parliament House
([email protected])
The Majority Caucus in Parliament has described as a total waste of time moves by the minority to impeach President Mahama.

The description followed a motion filed and signed by the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, on August 3, 2016, praying the House to constitute a Special Parliamentary Committee to investigate issues surrounding the controversial Ford Expedition, which was supposed to be a gift to the President.

The Minority in Parliament invoked Article 112 (3) of the 1992 Constitution, and Order 38 (1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament to recall MPs to the lawmaking chamber, following the Ford Expedition saga.

A copy of the motion sighted by The Chronicle sought to know “whether the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, received a Ford Expedition vehicle from a Burkinabe contractor?

Whether the Ford Expedition vehicle received by the President infringes any law of Ghana? Whether the Ford Expedition vehicle donated to the President infringes his own code of conduct, and any other matter relevant to the above subject.”

However, at a press conference addressed by the Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, in Accra yesterday, he described the motion to set up a special committee to look into the saga as a total waste of resources and a cost to the country.

Alban Bagbin wondered why the Minority would propagate that the recall was meant to impeach President John Dramani Mahama, explaining that nowhere in the latter's motion did they state that they want to impeach the President.

He also asked why the NPP Minority was seeking that another committee does an investigation, when the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice was already doing that.

“Why is the NPP Minority claiming publicly that they seek to impeach the President tomorrow, when this is not contained in their motion? Why is the NPP Minority asking Parliament to investigate a matter which is already being investigated by a constitutionally mandated body – the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice?” the Majority quizzed.

Parliament was adjourned sine dine in July, but had to respond to an emergency recall by the Speaker, following the motion filed and signed by the Minority Leader, in accordance with Article 112 (3).

Meanwhile, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu was reported to have said on Accra-based Citi FM that he did not know the agenda for the recall.

Majority Leader Alban Bagbin, addressing journalists yesterday, said that the claims by the Minority Leader were false, and that the former signed the motion in August 3, 2016.

“It is exceedingly strange, to say the least, that the Minority Leader had earlier claimed on Accra-based Citi FM that he was not aware of the recall of Parliament, when he signed the motion that formed the basis for the recall,” he said.

He could not fathom why the Minority Leader, who signed the motion, could state on Citi FM that he did not know the reason for the call, and that he (Minority Leader) was taken aback when he heard the news of a recall from the “grapevine”, as there had been “no prior consultation” with him.

“What is the Minority Leader running away from? What is he ashamed of? Ghanaians need to know,” Bagbin noted. The Majority added that the conduct by the NPP Minority was, most certainly, a needless waste of scare resources and precious time, when MPs ought to be engaging their constituents.

“We (Majority) wish to assure the good people of Ghana that this, notwithstanding, we, in the Majority, will remain alive to our constitutional responsibilities. We assure all that this unnecessary and obvious distraction will soon be put behind us, as we resolve to continue to support President Mahama's vision of Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana.”

Some sections of Ghanaians expressed anger over reports that President Mahama was given a brand new Ford Expedition in 2012 by a Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanazoe, who won the bid to construct the $650,000 Ghana Embassy wall in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) wrote to President John Mahama for his response to the controversy surrounding a 'car gift' given to him.

The letter, dated July 7, 2016, was in line with (Investigations Procedure) Regulations 2010 (CI) 67. Many anti-corruption campaigners slammed the President for what they described as his disregard for the guidelines on conflict of interest in accepting the vehicle gift.

However, the government, in a statement issued by Communications Minister Edward Omane Boamah, said even though the car was received, it had nothing to do with the contract awarded.

President John Mahama, subsequently, rubbished the corruption allegations against him, saying such claims were baseless.

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