President John Mahama
A pressure group, OccupyGhana, has challenged former President John Mahama to prove that the reported sale of some 361 government vehicles during the last days of his regime was done legally.
OccupyGhana made the demand following ex-President Mahama’s recent promise that should he be elected in December 2020 as President of Ghana once again, he would “put an immediate and permanent end to the purchase of duty post vehicles by political appointees.”
Mr. Mahama had given an assurance that “government vehicles will remain government vehicles” under his administration when he is given power again.
Even though OccupyGhana agrees with the promise of the former President to stop the sale of government vehicles to political appointees, it questioned whether Mr. Mahama’s erstwhile administration complied with the law as laid down in the 2003 Public Procurement Act, as amended in 2016, before selling the 361 vehicles between 29th December 2016 and 6th January 2017.
That, it said, is because “the law that applied in 2016 is that which applies now. If the law was breached then with no consequences and sanctions, there is no guarantee that it would not be breached again. That is why these “never again” assurances provide cold comfort and ring hollow to us.”
“While we at OccupyGhana wholeheartedly agree with these pronouncements, we have grave reservations that must be addressed. Simply, we are not satisfied with bare promises and assurances of executive action,” it stated.
According to OccupyGhana, if the law was not complied with, there would be the need for a return of all of those vehicles to the government for due process to be complied with and proper value realised for them.
State vehicles were reportedly sold cheaply to some appointees of the NDC as the Mahama’s administration prepared to relinquish power to the NPP.
Some members of the NDC, including actor cum politician, John Dumelo, were offered state vehicles ‘free of charge.’
BY Melvin Tarlue