Gov’t must come clean on bus branding scandal – AFAG

The buses are embossed with pictures of Ghana's incumbent President and Ex Presidents both alive and dead.

Pro-opposition pressure group Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), has charged government to set the records straight on the murky GHC 3.6 million bus re-branding scandal.

Although the group in a statement commended government’s “swift action” to retrieve part of the money, it observed that the “step is incomplete until the full complement of the law has been applied.”

“Be that as it may, AFAG would like to know whether the excess payment has been repaid? When it was made? Was there value for money audit before payment? Did the procurement board grant smarty’s sole sourcing rights? Is there a criminal intent in the transaction?” the statement added.

Government’s decision to spend the whopping amount of Ghana’s oil revenue on re-branding some 116 Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses has been intensely criticized by many Ghanaians.

The scandal, which has compelled the Transport Minister, Dzifa Attivor to resign, comes at a time when the country is battling with some economic challenges.

Although a report on investigations into the scandal commissioned by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, has been presented, details of it have not been made public yet.

Below is the full statement from AFAG

Though the resignation of the minister for transport is welcomed, it is not enough for God & country. We commend however, the swift action taken by government to retrieve the stolen money. This step notwithstanding, it’s incomplete until the full complement of the law has been applied.

Be that as it may, AFAG would like to know whether the excess payment has been repaid? When it was made? Was there value for money audit before payment? Did the procurement board grant smarty’s sole sourcing rights? Is there a criminal intent in the transaction?

Fellow Ghanaians, under the current precarious economic circumstances, such an unconscionable act must be made to face the full wrath of the law. The records should be set straight on this transaction, and any greedy bastard (who have sent this country begging on its knees) trading off our common goal for their parochial interest punished.

Our simple questions need not escape your attention Mr. President.

We wish Ghanaians a prosperous New Year.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana