Haroun Apaw Wiredu, Deputy Managing Director of Metro Mass Transit, has revealed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government scrapped 313 buses just months before the 2024 general elections.
In an interview on Adom TV’s morning show monitored by Kumasimail, Apaw Wiredu disclosed that shortly after assuming office in 2017, the NPP government auctioned about 300 buses from the fleet.
He explained, “When the NDC was voted out in 2017 and the NPP took over, our report shows that between 2017 and 2018, they scrapped nearly 300 buses out of a total of 1,000 buses in operation.”
He added that the scrapping continued in the lead-up to the 2024 elections, with the government declaring 313 buses unserviceable and subsequently scrapping them.
According to the report, the government generated approximately GHC 30 million from the disposal of these buses.
Notably, Metro Mass Transit records show that some of the bus was sold for as low as GHC 5,000, raising questions about the valuation and management of the fleet.
Apaw Wiredu stated “According to the report, the government (then NPP government) said that they generated about GHC 30 million from scrapping over 313 buses.
“It will interest you to know that, on record, Metro Mass Transit sold a bus for as low as GHC 5,000.00,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, if you recall in 2018, the Board Chairman of Metro Mass Transit Company Limited, Mr Ahmed Arthur stated that the sale of over 200 unserviceable buses were based on a re-evaluation by the State Transport Company (STC).
He said the reduction in the auction price was based on a re-evaluation done in 2017.
According to Mr Arthur, the auction could not be conducted based on the initial 2016 report because, there was neither a board nor management in place
In 2017, when a new board was reconstituted, the mandatory six months period had elapsed so an auction could not be conducted based on the 2016 evaluation report.
He said by the time the re-evaluation was done in 2017, most of the buses had been cannibalised, which beat down the auction price.
But in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Arthur flatly denied the claims and stated that he never interfered in the valuation or auction processes.
He indicated that the vehicles were, therefore, sold as scrap metals because there were no engines and seats in those buses. They were also not roadworthy and so had to be sold off as scrap.
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
