The Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition has indicated that the Minister of Transport, Dzifa Attivor, should be made to face the full rigours of the law, if found culpable of any wrongdoing in the controversial re-branding of the 116 buses.
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Bus re-branding: Transport minister resignation not enough - GACC
The transport minister tendered in her resignation to the President through the Chief of Staff on Tuesday due to the current issues surrounding the GHC 3.6 million spent on re-branding 116 buses.
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The transport minister tendered in her resignation to the President through the Chief of Staff on Tuesday due to the current issues surrounding the GHC 3.6 million spent on re-branding 116 buses
Speaking to Pulse.com.gh, the Executive Director of the Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition, Linda Ofori Kwafo said her resignation should not be the end of the matter.
"Resignation wouldn't obviously be enough. At this point, what we are looking forward to in the days to come is for the details of the report; what other actions will follow. Especially, who else is going to be held accountable for monies wrongfully paid and all that...If she is found culpable, resignation is not enough," she added.
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She was however quick to add that her resignation is a step in the right direction towards the fight against anti-corruption.
Dzifa Attivor's resignation comes barely a day after the Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong presented a report commissioned by the Chief of Staff into the controversial contract.
A statement signed by the Minister’s Personal Assistant, Egypt Kudoto, announcing the resignation said “Hon. Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, Minister of Transport wishes to inform the good people of Ghana that , as the Minister with oversight responsibility for the activities of the Metro Mass Transit (MMT), She has tendered in her resignation as Minister due to the current issues surrounding the branding of the 116 buses.
“She further wants to take the opportunity to thank her party for the opportunity offered her to serve, first as a Deputy Minister of Transport under the late President J E A Mills, and later as the Substantive Minister.
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"Mrs Dzifa Ativor also wishes to thank the President sincerely for the honour to serve in his government."
The revelation of the cost of the buses in the 2015 Annual Report on the Petroleum Revenues Fund has led to public outcry with Parliament also asking for further answers on what led to the amount involved.
Her personal assistant said the Minister's resignation is not an admission of guilt.
"I am not too sure there is any court that has pronounced her guilty and i think the only institution in our land that can pronounce one guilty is when you send her to court and there is a proven record that she has done something wrong and there is the need for her to face the music." Egypt Kudoto told Citi fm.
He said the Minister is taking the responsibility to resign because the bus branding saga happened under her supervision.
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He added that the minister decided to resign upon sober reflection on the matter
Pulse.com.gh last Wednesday revealed that Smartyys Productions and Management is the company that executed the branding of 116 Bus Rapid Transit Buses(BRT) to the tune of GHS 3,649,044.
READ MORE: > How Smartyys charged GHC 14,000 for spraying a bus
It has emerged that a pro-forma invoice dated 17th July 2015, and signed by the Accounts Officer of Smarttys Management and Productions and copied to the Ministry of Transport, put the total cost of branding for each bus at Ghc30,420.00.
The material cost for spraying one bus is GHc 14, 210.00 whiles the cost of one vision sticker is GHc 10,000.
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The Minister of Transport Dzifa Ativor could not tell parliament what accounted for the 3.6 million cedis when she went to the house to answer some questions. She asked for time to furnish the house with documentation. But on Wednesday 23rd of December the minister announced her resignation.
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