Chief Of Staff Orders For Ghc 1.9m To Be Retrieved From Selassie Ibrahim’s Company Smartty’s For The Rebrading Of 116 Metro Mass Buses

The fallout from the Ghc 3.9m bus rebranding saga continues unabated, and Ghanaians are braced for whatever is coming out of it.

The transport minister tendered in her resignation on Wednesday, for her role in the entire sag- following the Attorney General also submitting a report on the issue to the Chief of Staff- and it seems this is the first consequence from it.

Smartty’s Management Limited, owned by actress Selassie Ibrahim, carried out the rebranding on the buses, and the Attorney General’s report has determined that the cost was overinflated.

The Chief of Staff has ordered that Ghc 1.9m of the Ghc 3.6m used to execute the contract, should be returned to the state by Smartty’s. This was contained in a statement issued from the Presidency on Thursday.

Read the full statement below…

Chief of Staff Mr. Julius Debrah has, upon receipt of the Attorney General’s report on the spraying and branding of 116 new buses procured for the Metro Mass Transit Company Limited, requested the Attorney General and Minister for Justice to recover from Messrs Smartty’s Management Limited, a total of GH¢1.9 million, which is determined in the report to be excess payment made for the service rendered.

The Chief of Staff last week requested the Attorney General to conduct an urgent review of the contract following concerns raised about the cost of the spraying and branding exercise.

In her report submitted on Tuesday, the Attorney General, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong found that there were no cost comparisons to what was submitted by Smartty’s Management because of the method of procurement and the procedures used.

The procurement method, the report noted, did not also ensure value for money. Independent consultations made by the Attorney General with some leading motor firms in the country confirmed that the contract would have been executed at a cheaper cost if other bids were considered and price comparisons made.