Mahama's comments on MASLOC vehicles deceptive - CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Stephen Amoah, has described former President John Mahama’s call for some buses purchased under the MASLOC arrangement to be released to members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) as deceptive propaganda.

Mr. Amoah said he was shocked by Mr. Mahama’s comments and reminded that the challenges with the vehicle trace back to actions by the Mahama administration.

“…It is only deception and propaganda. With all respect, I beg him. He shouldn’t go on always saying these things.

There are concerns that the prices of some 350 vehicles procured by MASLOC’s Hire Purchase Scheme for members of the GPRTU in 2016 were grossly inflated.

Now, most of the vehicles lie idle because of the cost concerns.

“Because of the prices of the cars, people are not even ordering for them any longer from us. Only eight of the buses have been bought. For the small cars, because of uber, a few have been bought,” Mr. Amoah said to Citi News.

The suggestions of rot at MASLOC has seen its former Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu, charged with 78 counts of stealing and causing financial loss to the State.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

She is said to have overseen the contract with Mac Autos on December 6, 2016, to supply MASLOC with 350 vehicles comprising 150 Chevy Aveo Saloon, 100 Chevy Sparklite and 33-seater Isuzu buses without any approval from PPA.

MASLOC subsequently applied for a tax waiver on all the vehicles.

The unit price offered by Mac Autos to MASLOC for the Chevy Aveo according to government was pegged at GH¢74,495 ($18,883.39).

Government claimed it’s investigations revealed that the actual retail price Mac offered for the same model within the same year without duty was GH¢47,346.93 ($12,009.91).

The unit price offered for the Chevy Sparklite was GH¢ 65,095.00 ($16,500.63) when the actual price offered by Mac Autos within that same period without duty was GH¢35,918.37 ($9,104.77).

For the Isuzu 33-seater buses, the unit price offered to MASLOC was GH¢445,560 ($112,942.96) but the actual retail price without duty according to the government was GH¢293,877.55 ($74,493.67).

Source: citifmonline.com