Prez Mahama, Please Probe Zoomlion

Exactly a week ago, The Chronicle reported that sanitation giants Zoomlion Ghana Limited has stabbed the government in the back, by selling dump trucks it assisted the company import to execute a specific project at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. According to the story, the trucks were imported and cleared on permit, meaning that no duties were paid, because they were going to be used to assist in national development, but just five months after the importation, the company started selling the trucks to individuals and companies. It was further stated in the story that the nocturnal deal was blown when the Driver Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) refused the transfer of the trucks, which were sold at $80,000 each, into the names of the new owners. On September 9, 2013, the story continued, the Madina-Accra Area Manager of Zoomlion, Mr. S. Asiedu Offei, wrote a letter to the Director of the DVLA to change the ownership of one of the trucks they had sold. The letter reads: �This is to inform you that we have sold the above mentioned vehicle � Dayun Dump Truck with registration number GC 1391-12, chassis number LG6DANH1BY202257 to Heals-B Construction Limited P.O. Box 161, Takoradi. We would appreciate if you could amend your records accordingly.� The above letter clearly indicates that Zoomlion was really selling the trucks.The Chronicle is, however, surprised that state institutions such as the Flagstaff House, the seat of government, and Ghana Revenue Authority among others are silent on this issue, as if the sale of the trucks had not come to their attention. If this case had happened in any advanced country, whose taxes are used to support our budget, the tax authorities would have descended heavily on Zoomlion, but that is not the case here in Ghana, where even suspected stealing cases are considered normal. If Zoomlion has the right to sell the trucks, why has the DVLA, a state institution, refused to transfer the documents covering the trucks into the names of the new owners? It is an undeniable fact that Zoomlion has contributed tremendously towards the development of this nation, but this does not mean that the sanitation company should be allowed to sell permit trucks and pocket the proceeds at the expense of the poor tax payer. Ghana should not have been going round the globe, cup in hand, to beg for funds to execute development projects, if our governments had found an antidote to some of these rapes on our meagre resources. The other day, we published a story where importers are using all kinds of subterfuge to dodge taxes at the Tema Port. When that story broke, we expected the GRA to have conducted a thorough investigation into it, but again, nothing has happened. It is in the light of this that we are appealing to President Mahama to use his good offices to conduct a full scale investigation into the sale of the trucks by Zoomlion, and apply the necessary sanctions if the company is found guilty. Failure to do this would open the flood gates for other companies to also bypass the norm to perpetrate crime on this country. All over the world, it is taxes that are used for development, and that is why every country strives hard to plug the loopholes in its tax administration to rake in the needed revenue. Ghana, as a country, cannot expect her donor partners to continue doling out money to support our infrastructure development, when the little that we have is being dissipated in such a reckless manner, without any restraint, by the authorities concerned. It is time our leaders start thinking about the welfare of the people by punishing companies and individuals who try to plough where they have not sown.