JAnuary 16

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DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
It is better to fail in originality
than to succeed in imitation
— Herman Melville
Nana’s key men
bought vehicles
BY BENJAMIN TANDOH
FORMER CHIEF of Staff
under the John Mahama administration,
Mr Julius Debrah,
has indicated that there
is a long-standing policy
which permits departing
government officials to purchase stateowned
vehicles which are more than
two years old.
According to him, “the policy has
been in existence since the advent of
the Fourth Republic and persons benefitting
from it are made to pay a commensurate
value objectively determined
by professional valuers.”
In a statement to respond to allegations
made by Mr Thomas Kusi Boafo,
Chief Executive Officer of the Public
Sector Reforms, who said the immediate
past government bought expensive
cars and later sold them at very low
prices, Mr Debrah described the allegations
as “totally false and malicious.”
“It is surprising, and perhaps underscores
the malicious intent of Mr Boafo
that he failed to disclose vehicles
bought by members of the Kufuor administration
on the eve of their exit
from office under the same policy and
processes in 2008/2009.
“Many of the beneficiaries of that
policy happen to be high-profile members
of the Akufo-Addo government,”
he said.
On the allegation that the past government
bought a vehicle for $165,000
and sold it for US$ 2,500 after six
months, Mr Debrah said, “under no circumstance
and at no time during my
tenure as Chief of Staff or the previous
government was any such vehicle either
sold at the price quoted by Kusi Boafo.”
• Says Julius Debrah
• As he rubbishes claims of selling
State cars at ‘donkomi’ prices
•Julius Debrah, Former
Chief of Staff, John
Mahama Administration
Background
The allegation comes after the Minister
for Information, Mr Mustapha
Abdul-Hamid, had alleged that the Mahama
administration sold State vehicles
at least two days to the inauguration of
Nana Akufo-Addo as President.
According to the Information Minister,
some State vehicles were sold to officials
of the Mahama administration
just 48 hours before handing over
power to the current government.
“The vehicles that they handed over
to us, per the documents they themselves
compiled and gave to us, are
179,” Mr Abdul-Hamid stated in a
media interview.
According to him, none of the 52
Hyundai i10s that were listed in the inventory
of State cars which former
Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, said
were left behind by the Mahama government
had been found, saying, “I am
telling you on authority that we haven’t
seen a single Hyundai i10 vehicle.
“I have before me a letter dated January
5, 2017, which is two days to
handing over power, in which Mr Julius
Debrah signed off one of the Nissan
Sentra vehicles and sold it to one WO1
Kanzoyi Jacob at the office of the
President, VIP Protection Unit.
“Per this particular act, it will seem
to me that though these vehicles were
in the hands of their officials, they
[Mahama administration] proceeded to
sell them off to their officials while
giving us a dead list and pretending
that those vehicles were available, so,
I’m saying that on record, what we
have received are 179 but from what I
have of some of the letters that he
signed off on the 5th of January selling
off these vehicles to their officials, they
sold them off to themselves before
they gave the power to us,” the Minister
said.
He continued that, “we are still
compiling, we will come to you when
the work of the committee is concluded
… because they [National
Democratic Congress] have to help us
also by telling us where the vehicles
are.”