A\u00a0Former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, has told\u00a0Ghanaians not to\u00a0expect that government will prosecute any official involved in the controversial GHc3.6 million bus branding scandal.<\/p>\n
The vociferous Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie’s assertion is borne out of the conviction that government will always shield its people from prosecution.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”4RaCtkC7wyXoPi3dC00simG5e3TS8Usm”]Mr. Afriyie made the comment in relation to a leaked government report on the bus re-branding deal which\u00a0among other things\u00a0recommended that\u00a0all officers who handled any aspect of the contract\u00a0and flouted laid down procedures be\u00a0investigated by the Economic and Organised Crime Office [EOCO].<\/p>\n
Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John in an interview with Citi News,<\/strong>\u00a0said the presidency will protect all the implicated officials because \u201canything that has to do with bringing this government’s name into disrepute is always swept under the carpet by the NDC and John Mahama\u2019s administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Smarttys won\u2019t pay<\/strong><\/p>\n Sir John, a private legal practitioner, says the company at the centre of the scandal, Smarttys Limited,\u00a0will not refund the money since the firm was clearly aided by government officials to loot the state.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was aided and abetted by people in higher authority, the presidency itself; they have a hand in that.\u201d<\/p>\n He explained that the resignation of the Minister of Transport over the matter was just a cover-up, and that she was \u201cmade a sacrificial lamb on the altar of the president\u2019s own image.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so for me, I\u2019m not surprised at all that the aspect which stated that people should be referred to EOCO for purposes of investigation and further prosecution was not made available to us. So they made it look like they\u2019ve been asked to refund GHc 1.9 million but the other bit that we now know that the AG recommended, has not seen the light of day; and they will not do that because that is their stock in trade,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Background<\/strong><\/p>\n Government\u2019s decision to spend GHc3.6 million of Ghana\u2019s oil revenue on branding some 116 Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses has been widely criticized and described as reckless.<\/p>\n The scandal compelled the Transport Minister, Dzifa Attivor to resign after a massive public outcry.<\/p>\n The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, subsequently ordered the Attorney General to investigate the matter after which Smarttys was\u00a0ordered to refund the excess payments made.<\/p>\n Meanwhile a leaked \u00a0Attorney General’s investigation report suggests that the contract with Smarttys\u00a0was commenced and concluded long before the procurement process started, a conduct that violated the nation\u2019s procurement laws.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe re-branding by Smarttys was commenced and concluded even before the procurement process began. This fact has been confirmed by both Smarttys and the Ministry of Transport. They attribute this lapse to the urgency attached to re-branding and spraying of the buses,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n \u201cAn analysis of the documents clearly shows that several public officers were involved in the procurement and payment process. We therefore recommend that all officers who handled any aspect of these processes flouted the laid down legislation should be investigated by the Economic and Organised Crime Office [EOCO].\u201d<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n