The Auditor-General has ordered the return of the 19 vehicles and indicted the Judicial Service for an illegal auction of vehicles to judges.
Judges from lower courts, members of the judicial service, and three former Supreme Court judges, who each purchased six of the 19 vehicles, are on the list of those who received them from the auction.
The Judges and Magistrates Association had argued in favor of the acquisition, pointing out that it is a custom that dates all the way back to the Kufuor administration. According to the Auditor-General, the transaction is in violation of the 2019 Public Management Regulations, which stipulate that the Minister of Finance must approve any auction conducted by a public entity.
The Auditor-General's report for 2021 includes the findings for ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
According to the report, "Regulation 158 of Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378)," "for the transfer, exchange, sale, donation, contribution-in-kind, trust, and any other disposal of any vehicles of the covered entity, the Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity shall obtain the prior written approval of the Minister."
The Auditor-General issued a directive: "We recommended that the auction should be nullified, and the vehicles recovered, in the absence of approval from the Minister for Finance."
A list of the auction's beneficiaries can be found here.
No. Type of vehicle, Officer's name, and Vehicle Registration Number Value (GH) 1 H/L Justice F. G. Korbieh Toyota Land Cruiser GR 8132-17 57,975.00 2 H/L Justice N. S. Gbadegbe Toyota Land Cruiser GR 4158-17 67,047.00 3 H/L Justice N. S. Gbadegbe Toyota Avalon Saloon GR 2777-14 27,570.90 4 H/W Charles Y. Boateng Toyota Corolla Saloon GM 8311-13 9,
12 H/L Justice Jennifer A Tagoe Toyota Fortuner-SUV GT 75-18 87,887.00 13 H/L Justice E. K. Mensah Toyota Fortuner-SUV GT 30-18 59,000.00 14 H/L Justice N. C. Agbevor Toyota Land Cruiser GT 796-19 123,620.00 15 H/L Elizabeth Ankumah Toyota Fortuner-SUV GT 39-18 107,271.00 16 H/L Justice Yaw Appau Toyota Land Cruiser
However, whenever power changed hands, it frequently became a politically charged issue. It is frequently alleged that the departing administration offered low-cost sales of state vehicles to departing officials.
In April 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo imposed a ban on such transactions because the arrangement had become synonymous with corruption in the country.
The Ghanaian people are facing challenging times. The policy that has worked so far—officials can buy official cars—is running into a lot of problems because of how it has been abused. That policy no longer applies. There will be no opportunity for any official to purchase his official vehicle. Following a ministers' retreat at the Peduase Lodge in the Eastern Region, the President told journalists, "So, we put an end to it."
