Don’t politicise car gift debate – Peace Council

Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev Professor Emmanuel Asante has welcomed the raging debate on the controversial presidential car gift, but warns it must not be politicised.

The opposition NPP and anti-graft bodies have raised concerns about the president’s acceptance of the Ford Expedition from Burkinabe Contractor Djibril Kanazoe. They have called for a probe into the matter. The Youth Wing of the CPP has petitioned the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on the matter. The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) intends doing so, too.

Professor Asante told Class News, even though the debate on the issue could be helpful in getting to the bottom of the matter, it must not be apolitically discussed.

“There is a debate going on, there are people who are saying he has not taken anything and that when it was given to him it was put into the pool. Others are saying that he took it personally. My concern is that I get worried when issues of this nature are over politicised and it depends upon who is saying what”, he stated.

“You can predict what somebody from this end is going to say and you can predict what the other person from that end is going to say. The question is, was it a bribe that was given to the president? If it was, then it’s something that cannot be accepted, but I do not think that as I stand here, I have enough information on that to be able to make any kind of judgment, but I will think that a person, who is looking for work, contract, if the person is giving you something – it’s said in the past that beware of the Greeks if they offer you gifts – and that to me is ‘a word to the wise is enough’. But in this country, everything is over-politicised. Anything that happens in this country is given a political tag. We should continue to talk about it and let’s see if something good will come out from it”, Rev Asante said.