Pressure group OccupyGhana is demanding the
immediate prosecution of persons involved in the Smarttys bus re-branding
scandal.Addressing the press in Accra on Wednesday a leading member of
OccupyGhana, Ace Ankomah said they have presented a 20-paged dossier to the
Attorney General, the leadership of Parliament and other stakeholders in the
country to ensure that the GHc3.5 million is also retrieved.
It will be
recalled that a revelation on branding of 116 new Chinese Huanghai buses which
cost the country GHc 3.6 million caused public outrage. A leaked Attorney
General’s investigation report implied that the contract with Smarttys concluded
before the procurement process started an action that violated the nation’s
procurement laws.
The public backlash led to the resignation of the then
Transport Minister, Dzifa Attivor. The excess payment was detected by a fact
finding committee set up by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah. The committee’s
report recommended that Smarttys should refund half of the amount which was an
over-payment.
The group is also calling for criminal prosecution of the
offenders arguing on grounds of issuing a false certificate ‘that warrant
falsely certified that the request for payment was in respect of work done
involving the Railway Development Authority for expenditure on railway
transport, trains; breach of provisions of the Public Procurement
Act. |
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