The raging argument going on now in Ghana as to whether the Ford Expedition given to President Mahama by a Burkinabe Contractor is a gift or bribe should be put into perspective and the chronology of events that preceded the gift(Bribe) What is the difference between a gift and a bribe? The Merriam Webster dictionary gives the definition of the two words below:
GIFT
something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.
BRIBE
1.money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust.
2.something that serves to induce or influence
According to chronology of events, this Burkinabe Contractor had previously failed to win a contract by going it alone so a friend told him he knows a government official who can help him to secure government contracts and leads him to see then Vice President Mahama. Below is the account of how Mahama came into contact with the Burkinabe Contractor as narrated by Mannazeh Azure
HOW THE CONTRACTOR AND THE PRESIDENT BECAME FRIENDS
Djibril Kanazoe reveals that his friendship with President John Mahama started when he wanted a road contract in Ghana, but failed to win the bid.
"I have been going to Ghana since 2003. The people from Mechanical Llyod, somebody was my friend there. My friend helped me to set up this company [Africa Motors in Burkina Faso]. His name is Morkporkpor. My friend's friend is Mike Aidoo.
He is a contractor – Mikado. When we went there, he told me to come and do the roads in Ghana because he had seen the work I have done here [in Burkina Faso]," he told me.
"So we made the first tender. When we made the tender, we didn't win. One day he told me he know [sic] the Vice President [John Mahama] so let's go to salute [greet] him. We went to salute him and I show [sic] him what we does [sic] in Burkina Faso. And we became friends. We talk a lot! We talk a lot. One day my father died, he sent a delegation to my village to salute the family," he said."
"We talk a lot! We talk a lot"
What do they talk a lot about? How to form a partnership with him Mahama influencing contracts to be awarded to him and in return he will hide Mahama's part of the deal in a secret account? How come he was the only African Contractor to be given a part in the Eastern Corridor road construction in the amount of over twenty six million Euros without competitive bidding? "ASEM SE BE"
Now we know the motive of the Burkinabe Contractor why he wanted to be friends with then Vice President Mahama which is to help him secure government contracts in Ghana. This is a friendship not based on mutual admiration for each other but is purely based on financial benefit, at least initially by the Burkinabe Contractor.
Not long after coming into contact with Mahama, this guy secures two juicy contracts, one for a wall to fence of a land for $650,000 and another road construction for close to $35 million for 28 kilometers road and none of these contracts went through competitive bidding. If a wall over an empty land is worth this much, then I shudder to wonder how much it will cost the house to be constructed. This is a sham.
Mahama defenders want us to believe that, the Ford Expedition was given after he won the contracts so there was no influence peddling here. The fact is that, it doesn't matter, if the contract was awarded solely based on friendship, it is corruption and who knows whatelse have changed place between the two in terms of money that cannot be traced?
Another childish argument by the Presidential Staffers that nobody accepts gift and documents it is as stupid as these People are. What documentation are these People talking about? They meant the letter given by the Ghana Ambassador in Burkina Faso to allow the passage of the car between the borders of Ghana and Burkina Faso. This cannot be said to be documentation. Until this story came out, nobody in Ghana except Mahama, ,the Ambassador and Mark Wayongo who was then the Northern or Upper East Regional Minister knew about this.
Another dumb argument by Presidential Staffers that the Car was put into the Presidential Car pool is not even tenable. When was this car put into the Presidential car pool? How long was this car in possession by Mahama and his family before it was turned into the Ghana government?
Secondly, why did President Mahama pay close to 24,000 Ghana cedis as tax or duty on this car and not the Ghana government if indeed this car was not intended to be used by Mahama?
These same Presidential staffers argue that the car was not worth taking as bribe because it was a second hand vehicle. Oh!!! my God, how stupid can these people be? Can these people understand what they are saying? If the car is not worth taking as bribe, is it also not an insult to give a used car to the President of the land? This shows how cheap this President of Ghana is.
When Mannaze Azure asked Mr Batidam, who advise the President on corruption matters hypothetically if this can constitute a bribe, he agreed with him that it was. Below is the conversation between Mannaze Azure and Mr. Batidam.
"According to President John Mahama's code of ethics for ministers and political appointees, gifts that are to be accepted without any conditions should not exceed GHc200 or $50. Sources close to the vehicle say its value was over $100,000 or nearly.Mr. Daniel Batidam, the Advisor on Governance at the Office of the President, is of the view that "the motivation for a gift is even more important than the quantum." He believes if motivation is to influence the public official, the quantum of the should not stop people from questioning the gift.Mr. Batidam, an anti-corruption crusader who once headed the Ghana Integrity Initiative, also advises the President on corruption. He is the key person who speaks on corruption at the Presidency. I did not tell him I was investigating the conduct of the President.
I ask Mr. Daniel Batidam that if the President sought his advice on whether or not to accept a gift with the value of about $100,000 from a contractor who does business with the government, what his advice would be.He smiles and replies, "Well, I'm sure you know that these are not situations that would occur in reality in terms of the kind of president we have." It's a hypothetical situation," I tell him.
"I think it's obvious. It's obvious that any leader, any president: not even a president, a minister; a responsible public servant would know that that situation could put him in a situation of not only conflict of interest but potentially being corrupted."
If this was a one time mistake by President Mahama, we would have said he made a poor judgement but this man has a reputation that is not admirable when it comes to corruption. When he was the Vice President, he signed a contract on behalf of Ghana for plane purchase that President Mills thought the prices have been inflated by Mahama and so set up a commission to investigate him. Unfortunately, President Mills died under mysterious circumstances, Mahama becomes President and the work of the commission was abandoned and the chairman of this commission by name Mr Aboah was strangely appointed a Minister in Mahama's administration maybe to silence him from divulging information gathered.
Not only that, the same Mahama signed a ten billion dollars house construction agreement with a Korea company that did not met the corruption smell test and Ghana ended up losing $250 million without even one house built.
Mahama is not a President Ghana can afford with his corruption reputation. The Kar power barge contract and others including more than $850 million settlement debts his administration have paid some to party members give credence to the belief that, he is corrupt.
Justice Sarpong
(CARDINAL of TRUTH)
