400 missing tricycles: Minister doesn’t deserve my attention – Sacked NDA boss speaks

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), Dr Abdel-Majeed Haroun has stated that he has given no attention to a response from the Northern Regional Minister Salifu Saeed denying any involvement in missing tricycles of the NDA.

Speaking on Radio Tamale recently, Dr Haroun said that he has not responded to the Minister’s release because he wants peace to reign, knowing well enough that a response to the Minister will lead to a back and forth.

“If I had any reason to respond to anybody I would have done so and in that case, I could have made clarifications to my response. As it is, I am sitting here in my house consoling myself with Zikr of praises to my Maker. I think that is a good enough pastime for me,” he said in the interview with the Tamale based station.

Dr Haroun was sacked after it emerged that over 400 tricycles of the authority had been taken away by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and distributed without regard to due process.

For Dr Haroun who waxed proverbial in the interview indicated that he has chosen to be the proverbial fool so that there can be peace between him and the Regional Minister.

The Minister who is alleged to have given the order for the tricycles to be ‘stolen’ denied the allegations in a press release.

“I wish to state categorically and unequivocally that, I did not direct anyone or group of persons or companies to pick any item from the premises of the NDA yard in my name or the Northern Regional Coordinating Council. For the records, I was the same person who ensured the protection of said items upon my appointment until the appointment of the CEO of NDA,” Mr Sa-eed wrote.

The missing tricycles has caused much controversy with controversial journalist Kevin Taylor being firm in his accusations that it was the Regional Minister who ordered the pillaging of the tricycles and that the sacking of Dr Haroun was as of his attempt to bring to book the perpetrators of the crime. But the Minister denied his report as well.

“The said claim being purported by the letter of the former NDA boss and Kelvin Taylor’s report is false and a palpable lie. This is an attempt to soil my hard-earned reputation and hard work. If I was really behind the tricycles pick up, I would have written formally to the NDA, giving clear directions and the locations to deposit the items,” Mr Saeed insisted.

Investigations on the missing tricycles is however underway but the opposition National Democratic Congress are of the view that the governing NPP deliberately doled out the tricycles to their members.