Government Buried Attorney General’s Report Which Found Several Illegalities In Smarttys Deal

It’s not like anyone is surprised here- the deal was fishy from the start, but it obviously would not have gone through without collusion from high places.
So asking for some money to be refunded and then everyone goes their way is just a way to look like remedying the situation without actually doing anything.
According to a report by Citifmonline, a leaked document shows the Attorney General’s investigations into the deal, which she submitted to the Chief of Staff, found several illegalities in the handling of the contract, by officials at both the Finance and Transport Ministries. However, what government did with the report was just to ask for the excess money to be refunded and then shove it in a drawer somewhere- well that’s all we have seen so far, unless they want to prove us wrong.
Some of the breaks from procedure and outright illegalities included Smarttys carrying out the rebranding before the procurement process even began, and the contract not being submitted to the Attorney General for review before execution, despite article 88 of the constitution.
“…the rebranding by Smarttys was commenced and concluded even before the procurement process began. This fact has been confirmed by both Smarttys and the Ministry of Transport. They attribute this lapse to the urgency attached to rebranding and spraying of the buses,” the leaked report said.
The Attorney General also recommended that officials who broke the law should have been recommended to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for prosecution; yet despite all these findings and recommendations of the Attorney General, nothing has happened.
All government did was order Smarttys to repay the excess money, but the process has been found to be fraught with irregularities that point to a deliberate attempt to circumnavigate the law- yet Selassie Ibrahim and her government patrons who give her such power to the extent that she executes a government contract before the procurement process has even commenced, just roam scot-free.
Yet we wonder why the country is in such horrible shape.