Mahama shouldn’t have had ‘bribe-taking’ interview with the BBC – Stan Dogbe

Former Presidential aide, Stan Dogbe, has said BBC’s interview with former President John Dramani Mahama in 2016 is one that shouldn’t have happened.

According to him, he was not present at the BBC’s interview with President Mahama because it wasn’t part of the itinerary of that trip.

“It’s one of the interviews that the President should not have. It’s because he did not go there for an interview,” he said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Thursday.

Stan further stated that the former Communication Minister, Edward Omane Boamah, was on that trip as well but was also oblivious of the BBC’s plan to interview the former President.

“In those moments, I tell you from my experience, the president doesn’t have to say much. A yes or no can damage the narrative you want to put out there,” he stated.

In 2016, the then President John Mahama in an interview with BBC denied ever taking a bribe.

According to him, although any individual could be lured to take a bribe, it is important for individuals to put themselves in a position to resist it.

“Any human being in the world would have encountered corruption one way or the other, either being offered a bribe or a bribe being demanded from you. What you need to do is to put yourself in a position to (resist it)..,”

When BBC’s Peter Okwoche, asked him directly if he has taken bribe, President Mahama responded, “no, I haven’t taken bribe before”.

His comments sparked a debate as to whether he was being truthful or just playing politics with the question.

However, Mr Dogbe stated that such questions were open to misinterpretation by the media as “people are going to twist and take it out of context.”

He said his detailed opinion on that interview would be documented in a book he is yet to be published.

Mahama faced a massive public backlash following his comments in the interview.