The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has begun looking into allegations contained in petitions presented to it over the controversial $100,000 Ford vehicle gifted President John Mahama.

The preliminary investigation follows President Mahama’s response to allegations of conflict of interest in accepting the car. The President says his acceptance of the gift does not breach the law regulating public office holders.

The President maintains he turned in the vehicle to be added to the pool of state vehicles at the Flagstaff House.

Head of Public Relations and Communications at CHRAJ, Comfort Akosua Edu, has explained the outcome of the preliminary investigation would determine the Commission’s next line of action.

“We did an initial assessment of the petition to find out whether it fall under CHRAJ’s investigative mandate [then] the commissioners appointed some investigators to do the preliminary investigations into the matter and that is where at the moment,” she told Accra-based Citi FM.

President Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford gift from a Burkinabe contractor, allegedly to influence him.

The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project.

The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou.

The Youth League of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and a private citizen petitioned CHRAJ with claims of conflict of interest against the President and called for an investigation into receipt of the gift.