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)
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