Some seven Ghanaian citizens have instituted a court action against government over the controversial Ghc3.6 million expended on re-branding 116 Bus Rapid Transit Buses (BRT).
The suit has the Minister of Transport Dzifa Attivor, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, as the first and second respondents respectively.
The suit is among others, praying the High Court, Human Rights Division, to issue “an order directing the Honourable Minister of Transport to make full disclosure on the contract for the branding of the 116 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses.”
One of the applicants, Francis Kennedy Ocloo and six others, want the court to order the Ministers to make available to them, the full contract for the re-branding of the buses.
This action comes after the Chief of Staff hurriedly ordered an investigation into the contract following the backlash that government received from the public.
Government’s decision to spend a whopping GHC 3.6 million on re-branding the buses, has angered many Ghanaians, with the majority questioning how that outrageous expenditure could be approved under the watch of the President.
A detailed pro-forma invoice for the re-branding of the buses, has revealed that stickers on each bus cost Ghc11, 000. The pro-forma invoice dated 17th July 2015, and signed by the Accounts Officer of Smarttys Management and Productions and copied to the Ministry of Transport, put the total cost of branding for each bus at Ghc30,420.00.
Smarttys Management and Productions is owned by Selassie Ibrahim, an actress cum entrepreneur and TV personality.
Some advertisers have told Citi News the charges were inflated considering the charges that pertains in the industry for such services.
They have accused government of misplaced priority considering that the state could have raked in nearly Ghc5 million cedis a month if it had given out the spaces on the 116 buses for commercial advertisement.
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