DCEs in northern region abandon 'rickety' official vehicles

Regular breakdown of official vehicles of District Chief Executives (DCEs) in Northern region has forced many to abandoned the “weak” cars in an-undisclosed locations, raising deep concerns among members of the assemblies.

Ultimate News checks have revealed that at least more than 10 DCE’s including the Mayor of Tamale, Hon. Hanan Gundaadow are without official vehicles.

Various political heads of these Assemblies according to sources parked the collapsed vehicles and either took to pairing with civil servants or “without due processes” commit huge monies into buying new ones.

Bad road networks and “corruption” have been identified as major contributory factors to the development.

This was disclosed to Ultimate News’ Eliasu Tanko after assembly members of the Bole district mounted pressure on the DCE, Hon. James Jaajah demanding him to produce his official vehicle which he had not been riding for months.

The Bole DCE had abandoned his car at undisclosed location and was seen pairing a Nissan Pick UP vehicle with the Deputy Coordinating Director who is a transport officer of the assembly.

The members became suspicious after checks revealed that the vehicle was not parked at the DCE’s residence and the assembly premises.

Hon. Dramani Sulemana, Assembly member for Charibong area said they launched the probe because the situation affected activities of the assembly.

He said they only heard from outside sources that the DCE’s vehicle was involved in an accident during a travel to Tamale and added that “DCE didn’t brief members of the assembly”.

Hon. Sulemana described the situation as “worrisome” and blamed it on “bad management” and “negligence”.

Another assembly member, Hon. Mohammed claimed that out of the ten(10) vehicles of the assembly, only one is operational.

He alleged officials of the assembly took to playing games in their various offices because they were less duties due to lack of transport.

He accused the DCE of being “corrupt” and management always wanting to “fill their pockets” with funds allocated for maintenance.

However, the DCE, Hon. James who refused to be recorded responded to the probe, saying the vehicle had been sent to Kumasi, Ashanti Regional Capital, for repair works.

Last year, some members of the East Gonja district nearly invoked a vote of no confidence on the District Chief Executive (DCE), Hon. Luckman Mohammed on accusation of misappropriation of assembly funds.

He reportedly parked his official vehicle and allegedly committed over GH¢96,000. into buying a Pick Up vehicle for “personal purpose”.

Other DCE’s especially those in areas where the road networks are poor have also complained about the situation.

“These are the cars President Kuffuor brought. They are very weak. The money alone I use to repair this every day is unimaginable. I think its better I also buy the pick up if we are nor getting new ones anytime soon”, a DCE spoke to Ultimate News anonymously.