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The 'Gallopersgate,'NDC "Ponko Abodams" On Rampage

Sat, 7 Jul 2012 Source: Sarpong, Justice

Sarpong, Justice

The Hyundai 'Gallopergate' is with us and as usual, NDC is salivating to throw

Taxpayers money at African Automobile limited (AAL) whose owners or at least some of

them have had a brush with the law. In 2011,Mohammed Hajizi, the Chief Executive

Officer of AAL, and two directors of the company, were put before an Accra Circuit

Court for illegally connecting electricity for their company without paying bills.

They pleaded not guilty and were granted a GH¢80,000 bail. The status of that case

at this time is unknown.

How NDC can have a gentlemen agreement with these dubious people is just beyond

me.The NDC government is failing Ghanaians. The moment any company writes to the

government for breach of contract, the inexperienced NDC government workers due to

inexperience coupled with intent to defraud the state through collusion start

talking about settlement. It happened in the WOYOME case. It happened in the CP case

and definitely might have happened in other settlement cases because that is the

MODUS OPERANDI of this scheming fraudulent ATTA MESS government.

Ghanaians have to put on our Ghanaian clothes and put away our political coloured

clothes on this issue of settlement debts or we will wake up one day and realize

settlement debt is consuming more than 50% of our annual budget if we continue to

spray money on companies like Nigerians do on wedding couples.

There is a reason behind the rationale why government contracts are not done by

gentleman's agreements but are done as written contracts. In the case of the

'Gallopersgate', we don't even know how many Gallopers were ordered by the NDC

government in 1999. Initially Okudzeto Ablakwa, the NDC blabbermouth Deputy

Information Minister said there were 86 Gallopers ordered at a cost of 17 million.

Kwamena Ahwoi, the Minister who in 1999 entered into this gentleman's agreement said

110 used Mitshubishi Pajero were traded in for 110 Hyundai Gallopers. Now it has

come out that, 20 of the cars were missing out of the 86. Did we really receive 86

or 110 vehicles as being banded around? Why this confusion about this simple

question about the number of vehicles ordered? Wouldn't a written contract had spelt

out how many Gallopers we were supposed to receive? In what country on God green

Earth is government business done this way where contracts are not written? I

have never heard anywhere in the world where order for government goods are not

entered into as a written contract unless you are dealing with a man calling

himself Professor Kwamena Ahwoi. If this man was a Professor who taught students in

Ghana, then may God help us all.We have Okudzeto Ablakwa and Kwesi Pratt who are

surfeit to speechmaking having find their elements in this Gallopers fiasco going

to radio stations and propagating lies or their misunderstanding of contracts

trying to stymie the opposition and People of Ghana from finding out what really is

going on.

According to Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) documents,the total

number of the Gallopers was originally 70 units, but one was taken out for unknown

reasons.the total cost of the controversial Hyundai Galloper cross-country vehicles

has been inflated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. According to

CEPS,the total cost of the entire Gallopers II vehicle barely exceeds $1million,

contrasting sharply with the $17million figure being quoted by government officials.

The vehicles were originally parked in its bonded warehouse number A/035 by African

Automobile Limited (AAL).Also, the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) of each unit

were valued in March 2010 at $15,154 per unit. Collectively, the Gallopers (in 2010)

were valued at approximately $1.05million as against $17million. It was in 2009 that

a committee headed by the current Deputy Attorney General, Barton Oduro decided to

move the Gallopers from the warehouses to the open air at the Institute of Local

Government Studies (ILGS) when there was no plan to take delivery of them.First and

foremost, Kwamena Ahwoi, who entered into this gentleman's agreement has to come out

and tell us how many Gallopers were ordered, how much government was supposed to pay

for the vehicles. How many vehicles came before NDC left office in 2001 because it

is in the news that, the NDC government took possession of 23 of these vehicles

before it left office." According to the NDC, an

initial 23 Gallopers were subsequently supplied before the NDC government, under

Jerry John Rawlings, was voted out of office.

This figure contrasts with the 86 Gallopers announced to have been in contention by

a Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. First, let me sound a

word of advice and caution to this communication team from the Castle to get their

act together before they come out and insult the intelligence of the populace.

Okudzeto Ablakwa who seems to have taken over the duties of 'Co-President' Koku

Anyidoho needs to learn that, no matter how smart he thinks he is, there is

something called experience that he lacks and no matter how smart he is, he will

always fall short when he has to deal with people who have gone through life with

its tribulations. He Okudzeto befor joining this administration had not signed a

contract to purchase even a bicycle tyre.

These vehicles were imported in the name of African Automobile Limited (AAL) and not

in the name of Ghana government as is the norm in this kind of agreement.

"Sources at the CEPS said they found the situation strange; usually, vehicles

ordered by the government were consigned to the government and not the companies

importing them.

This implies that if there were any costs to be incurred on demurrage, AAL would

have to bear the full responsibility of settling them, and not the government of

Ghana"

Can anybody blame Kwadwo Mpianim, the Chief of Staff during Kuffour's administration

for refusing to take delivery of these vehicles when there was no documentation?

Mpianim, who is a master of sumpsimus in documentation unlike Kwamena Ahwoi, the

mumpsimus Minister of local government who ordred these vehicles and have caused the

pilikia we are in now should be commended for exposing this Ahwoi fraud. I can see

Kwamena's fraudulent imprints all over this deal with Africa Automobile limited

(AAL) shrouded in mystery because Kwamena wanted it that way. Kwamena is now calling

for an out of court settlement between Government of Ghana and (AAL).

Why is Kwamena Ahwoi horripilating about this issue after all the malarkey by Pratt,

Ablakwa and Kwamena himself? There is nothing to settle with (AAL). As a matter of

fact, government should be suing (AAL) for defrauding Ghana in the amount of 8.4

million it collected on this deal in 2010. What is NDC Okudzeto Ablakwa telling

Ghanaians with this negotiating to beat the 1.5 billion dollars suit down to 500

million dollars? Do we as a country have 500 million dollars to throw away by giving

it to a company we did not have any contract with? Kwamena Ahwoi's genteleman's

contract with (AAL) is NULL and VOID because a government contract should always be

in a written form and not this gentleman's contract nonsense. The whole scheme was

that, Ahwoi and his NDC thought, no matter what happens in the 2000 election, the

vehicles will arrive in the country before the change in administration and this

deal would have been hushed without the public getting any

inkling about this fraud. Unfortunately their plan failed due to delay of delivery

of these vehicles.

If this company has been paid 8.4million dollars in 2010, on what basis was it paid?

If it had accepted 8.4 million, does it mean NDC has already reach some form of a

fraudulent deal to cheat the country?

Kwesi Pratt, the Jack of all trades according to Quophai master of none.He is a

doctor, a lawyer, sports analyst, Journalist, TV show host, Social commentator,

freedom fighter, democracy expect, demo leader, editor, foreign policy consultant,

economist, financial analyst, IT guru, gov't spokesperson, educationist, historian,

etc... waded into this issue by saying he has been studying this issue since 2001

and Government is being charged with 1% a month since 2001 when the vehicles was

delivered. Even if we go by Pratts calculation by using the compound interest

formula(P[1+r]n), we would obly have accumulated about 88 million dollars in

interest alone and if we even add it to the 17 million we are being charged for

these rotten vehicles, the total will be 105 million dollars so where did this 1.5

billion come from or the settlement amount of 500 million Okudzeto is talking about?

Writing about all these fraudulent settlement deals going on in this administration

will not stop these pen thieves parading the corridos of power at the Castle. What

will stop Mills and his thieving administration is for the TUC, Student bodies,

Professionals bodies and others including market women to lay down their tools of

work and embark on a one week demonstration to warn this government not to pay a

dime to AAL or any company which has no contract with the government. We have had

enough of this NDC stealing.

Some Teachers complained recently of having not been paid for almost three years for

whatever reason but we have hundreds of millions of dollars to throw away in

fraudulent deals by NDC and its cronies to enrich themselves whilst a common medical

check up by Prince Atta Mills has to be done in USA. Does Ablakwa know how much 500

million dollars he wants to hand over to Africa Automobile Limited can do to improve

our schools and hospitals? We handed over 35 million dollars to Woyome on a silver

platter because NDC benefitted from that stealing and we are having a hard time

retrieving this money from that 'conman' and they want to steal another 500 million

dollars as their retirement package when Ghanaians vote them out in December 2012,

that will not be allowed. They better get whatever they have given to the AAL back

or face the wrath of the People. This is not a treat, this is reality. Ghanaians

are tired of these Politicians sourcing for loans to

pay these phantom settlements debts that ends up in the pocket of the Politicians.

NDC, don't pay one cent to AAL, we cannot be duped with used vehicles when we

ordered brand new vehicles. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. YOU HAVE STOLEN ENOUGH ALREADY.

Justice Sarpong

Houston, Texas

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice