The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is demanding the immediate prosecution of all persons indicted\u00a0in the Smarttys bus branding scandal.<\/p>\n
NPP\u2019s Director of Communication, Nana Akomea at a news conference held on Tuesday, said attempts by government to shield persons indicted in the Attorney General\u2019s report is a clear indication that the Mahama administration is not serious to fight corruption.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”CfqMmpsafsRenTGq0nQO0TwGhfMiuc4f”]He argued that the scandal \u201cprovides another clear case of bad governance, waste of taxpayers\u2019 monies, corruption, non-transparency and weak government response to corruption that has become typical in these seven years of NDC governance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Attorney General has determined and the government has made a public announcement that the law was not followed; the law was broken so that automatically must lead to prosecution as provided for by the law. What is happening is that Smarttys\u2019 and whoever collaborated with them have been asked to just do a refund of the GHc1.9 million extra payment. Where in our laws is this new business of refund of tax payers’ monies that have been stolen. I don\u2019t know which part of law provides for this punishment that when you go and do a deal and you are found out you should just refund.\u201d<\/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 ordered to refund the excess payments made.<\/p>\n Meanwhile a leaked\u00a0 Attorney General\u2019s investigation report suggests that the contract with Smarttys was 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