There is more than merely meets the eye in the Attorney General’s (AG’s) report on the fraudulent Smarttys bus branding deal which cost the nation some GH¢3.6 million.
On Wednesday, an Accra Human Rights Court ordered the Attorney General to make the contract available to some concerned Ghanaians. DAILY GUIDE investigations suggest that there is more to the contract than what the people know.
It has emerged from the AG’s investigations into the scandal that Smarttys Management and Production Limited, owned by Selassie Ibrahim, a close associate of the first family and a National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaigner, might have played a fast one on the Ministry of Transport by presenting two different price quotations for the same contract, with two different pro-forma invoices.
That was after the ministry, under the headship of Dzifa Attivor, who resigned from her position after the scandal had broken out, had written to the Managing Director of Smarttys on July 15, 2015 requesting for a quotation for the branding of 116 Huanghai buses.
Question Marks
In its response to the ministry’s request dated July 17, 2015, the company gave two different pro-forma invoices – one involving an amount of GH¢30,420.00 for the branding of one 18-meter articulated bus and the other quoting GH¢25,770.00 – which included development and production of artwork.
What is not clear is why the ministry did not go for the GH¢25,770.00 quotation but settled on the GH¢30,420.00.
What beats people’s minds is the reason given by the Ministry of Transport as contained in a letter captured in the AG’s report dated July 28, 2015. That’s the decision to opt for sole sourcing for the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit buses which were parked at the forecourt of Parliament House ‘till December last year. Some of the buses have since developed faults.
They had been procured as a social intervention measure to provide what government said was “adequate and affordable mass transport services for commuters in the major cities in Ghana to improve urban mobility, reduce congestion and facilitate economic activities.”
Issues
The letter, among other things, cited the issue of ‘inconvenience at the State House’ – the buses which were parked at the State House (forecourt of Parliament) were creating inconvenience to other public institutions that wanted to use the premises – as justification for the ministry’s decision to go for sole sourcing
Strangely, several of those buses were still standing at the State House ‘till December 2015, with some even beginning to show signs of rusting at the top, even though they ought to have been out of the place by August.
Apart from the 116 which were taken for branding, the rest still remain dormant, even though among the reasons given by the ministry which impelled it to get the vehicles out of the place, was the issue of ‘national security threat.’ It said there had been agitations from various trade unions and commuters following the increases in transport fares, which the ministry said posed a major threat to national security; and that “their early release to MMT to commence the provision of services to commuters could avert possible national security threat.”
Meanwhile, the situation today is worse since fuel and utility prices have more than doubled – which could equally pose a threat to the nation’s security – yet the vehicles have been left there at the mercy of the weather and the sea breeze.
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