Former President John Mahama
A pressure group – Truth and Accountability Forum (TAF) – has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate what it claims to be possible acts of corruption by former President John Mahama in donating some vehicles to opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the party’s presidential candidate primaries.
According to the group, the timing of the donation of the vehicles by the former President is questionable and smacks of acts of corruption and ought to be investigated by CHRAJ.
Campaign Cars
In April, Mr. Mahama donated over 20 vehicles to the NDC saying it was to enhance the operational capacity of the party’s regional offices.
Although the source of the vehicle remains unknown, it was widely claimed at the time that the Nissan pickups and Renault Duster saloon cars were donated by various benefactors to support Mr. Mahama during the party’s internal presidential primaries.
Receiving the vehicles at the time, the party’s National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo promised to intensify his efforts to raise logistics and resources for the party in the run-up to campaigns for the 2020 elections.
Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo also promised to use the vehicles to campaign to ensure Mr. Mahama, who lost the 2016 election as the first ever sitting President to do so, returns to power.
Petition
But TAF is calling on CHRAJ to investigate the donation by the former President, saying the donation is a recipe for vote-buying and acts of corruption.
The group is also calling on CHRAJ to investigate the source of funding for the purchase of the vehicles claiming “as it was publicly known that there were numerous corruption allegations levelled against Mr. Mahama when in office as President”.
“We are further fortified in our claim that the presentation of these vehicles by the respondent (Mr. Mahama) is a clear case of vote-buying gesture and act of corruption, as it had one flag bearer candidate, Goosie Tanoh, protesting vehemently and this eventually impacted on the results of the primaries which the respondent won massively,” the TAF petition signed by its Director and Spokesperson, Saaka Salia alleged.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak