Presidential 'bribe' saga: 'Mahama called to thank me for the gift' – Burkinabe contractor

Djibril Kanazoe, the Burkinabe contractor, has revealed he gave president John Mahama luxury vehicle as a gift in 2012. The 2010 Ford Expedition was transported to Accra facilitated by the Ghana Embassy there, Joy FM’s investigative journalist Manasseh Azure has found. “He called me to thank me for the gift” Djibril Kanazoe confessed. He had won a contract in 2012 to construct a 46-kilometre Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road Joy News investigation has revealed that the said Ford Expedition entered Ghana on October 29th, 2012. The Ford Expedition was declared as a “used” vehicle and cleared in Tema on 13th February, 2013, by Vision Logistics Limited, a private clearing agent. The Customs Declaration Number of the vehicle is given as 420130771843/0.

Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana states, “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.” This constitutional provision has informed a new bill, Conduct of Public Officers Bill, 2013, presented by cabinet to Parliament.

According to Section 21 (b) a public officer many not “ accept a gift, favour or an advantage that has the potential to influence the proper discharge of the public officer’s functions or judgment, from a person with whom the public officer comes into contact in relation to the public officer’s functions”.

The contractor said his gift to the President could not amount to corruption. The President’s Special Advisor on corruption Daniel Batidam, unaware of the story explained to Manasseh that a gift to the President by a contractor “qualifies as a conflict of interest situation” “… the fact that there is a potential for people to believe that you are getting the contract because you are giving gifts, it’s not something we can rule out,” he said.