[ 2017-05-09 ]

Auctioned state vehicles were without engines, tyres - Intercity STC
A majority of government vehicles auctioned to the
public have no engines, gearboxes and other parts,
the Head of Technical Services at Intercity STC
has revealed.

Mr. Glory Kodzo Bani suspects those vital body
parts might have been removed and used to service
other broken down vehicles belonging to some of
the agencies.

“In most of the cases, that was what
happened,” Mr. Bani told Kojo Yankson, host of
the Super Morning Show on Joy FM, Tuesday, May 9,
2017. He added: “The vehicles were not complete,
many parts were taken off; some have no engine, no
gear box [and] no tyres. They were just left
closer to the sea and by the time you get there
they are all rusted.”

He wondered why officials at the Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) “submit to you
proposals for the valuation of certain
vehicles...but you get to the place you see a
two-year vehicle with the body rusted, two years
vehicle with no engine, two years vehicle with no
suspension”.

“Now if you are in the position of the valuer
and taking all the processes into consideration
you are more or less going to value just body
because that is what you see but it is assumed by
the public that you valued a two-year-old
vehicle,” he said.

The sale of government vehicles has dominated
media discussions recently as a section of the
public believes the vehicles are priced too low.
Some of the vehicles were auctioned for GHC1,000.
A Nissan Patrol S/W with registration number GV
1285 U was auctioned for GHC4,000.

A Nissan double cabin pick-up with registration
number GV 1481 U, was also sold at GH¢2,000,
while a Mitsubishi double cabin pick-up went for
GHC1,000. A Galaxy motorcycle was sold at
GHC30.00, while FY motorcycle was also sold at
GHC¢50.00.

There have also been reported cases where valuers
demand money to put ridiculously low values on
vehicles.

But Mr. Bani, whose department is charged with the
responsibility to value state vehicles, said
several factors are taken into consideration
including CIF cost, insurance cost as well as
prevailing exchange rate in assessing that values
of the vehicles.

Vehicles sold cheap?

Although the Valuer admitted to some extent that
the figures sometimes appear to be ridiculous, he
maintained the condition of the vehicles also
plays an important role in determining the
values.

“My vehicle may have covered a distance of
100,000km/h depending on the use within the same
year, yours may not have covered even a distance
of 25,000km/. How then do you expect that the two
vehicles should be valued the same if they were
brought for valuation?”

According to Mr. Bani, the actual value of the
auctioned vehicles goes up as the new owners would
then have to pay customs duties. He clarified that
because they are state vehicles, the state
normally does not pay “the taxes the Customs
charges so they come with the cost lower than what
is expected”.

“So we would not be able to take into
consideration what has not been expended in the
calculations, so the values would appear low. But
in fact, when those vehicles are sold out the
individuals go to pay for the duties; that
actually makes the value higher than it was,” he
explained.


No documentation

Meanwhile, the vehicles valued in 2013 by the
Intercity STC have no documentation covering them.
This Mr. Bani claimed, was the result of the heavy
flood experienced in Accra on June 3, 2015.

“Unfortunately, I could not lay hands on any of
the documents because of the June 3 flood. It took
everything away so it is difficult for me to know
exactly what was the condition of the motorbikes
at the time when it was given that value”.

Auctioneers sanction

In another development, an auctioneer involved in
the irregular auctioning of 24 vehicles at the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Alexander
Adjei of Alex Mart, risks losing his licence or
being suspended for breaching the Auction Sales
Act.

MoFA staff even before the auctioning process
started allocated all the vehicles to themselves,
resulting in a situation where the auctioneer
earned money for no work done, a report said. He
also pocketed a whopping GHS33,203 as his seven
percent commission on the sale of the vehicles.

President of the Auctioneers Association of Ghana
Carlvis Okine says it is strange that the
auctioneer pocketed the entire 7% of the
commission without doing the actual auction. “It
is not done. It is very strange,” he added.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show via phone, Mr.
Okine said ideally, Mr. Adjei was entitled to 3%
of the commission and so must refund the 4% to the
state while the association prepares sanctions
against him. “He has to refund the [4%] of the
money and he will face a disciplinary
committee.”

Source - Myjoyonline.com

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