Last week it emerged that Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy and Petroleum from 2009 to 2012, was still using a Lexus LX 570 owned by the ministry although he had been re-assigned from that ministry to the Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology (MEST) in January 2013. He had subsequently been removed as a minister early in July 2014. Though he was not a minister or holding any official position in government, he was in possession of a government vehicle for almost eight months, presumably had it maintained and expensively fuelled by the state. The vehicle was one of several overpriced American built vehicles bought by the Energy Ministry for a rural electrification project.
His smelly, Bible quotation filled defence was that the Toyota Landcruiser allocated to him at the Energy Ministry had been involved in an accident and had been replaced with the Lexus, a project vehicle. When he was reassigned to the MEST, he thought it prudent to save cash strapped MEST money by using the Lexus instead of having a new vehicle bought for him. Tweaa! Under pressure from Joyfm’s radio presenters, he said he had returned the vehicle to the ministry last Monday, 23rd February. He didn’t know much about cars but acted on the advice of the young men at the ministry who told him the Chrysler was the equivalent of a Toyota Camry and that the ministry had to buy American built vehicles for the project. What bollocks!!The painful story surrounding the wrongful appropriation of the state vehicle by the minister ends, sadly, with him shamefully returning it to the ministry. He will not face any sanction for using a state vehicle without proper authorization. He will not, as he should be, be surcharged with the costs of maintenance, fuel, tyres, etc when he used the vehicle without proper authorisation. He’s dared the NPP minority in Parliament to take him to court. Arrant nonsense!
It appears that the Energy ministry did not do a value for money analysis of the vehicles it bought for the project. The vehicles seem inordinately expensive and in my opinion, were unsuitable for the purpose for which they were bought. I cannot discuss that here. The vehicles were bought free of customs duty and other burdensome taxes ordinary vehicle importers have to contend with. Three duty free Chrysler 300C’s imported by the state should not cost us US$166,217 or US$55,405 each. That’s some US$15,000 higher than any dealer price for a high specification 300C in 2008!! The same overinflated prices are common in the purchases of the Ford Escapes at US$52,333 each, the Dakotas and four (4) Lexus LX 570’s at US$109,730.25 each; US$20,000.00 more than it should have cost the Ghanaian taxpayer. Pricing apart, did the ministry consider servicing costs, running costs, reliability, parts availability and dealer availability in making the purchase? Does the ministry have a transport department/officer and did it/he make any recommendations? Couldn’t the ministry have bought cheaper, basic specification American 4WD cars such as the Ford Explorer, the seven seat Dodge Durango or other cheap, rugged American vehicles? Did the terms of the loan really insist that the vehicles be sourced from the US? We need to investigate that. Unlike Europeans, the Americans do not always tie their aid to use of their equipment etc.
It appears to me that this purchase was hatched and executed for personal financial gain by those involved in it. Proceeds were shared with the supplier; Period. I have a hunch they were supplied by a particular car dealer who has close links to government.
The Lexus LX570, Lexus flagship model is no ordinary beast. It’s kitted out with every conceivable gizmo denied the Toyota Landcruiser VX-R 4.2 V8, which our government, its ministers, appointees, hangers-on and functionaries seem insanely and inordinately obsessed with. At $100,000.00, the Toyota Landcruiser is not, by any stretch of the imagination, cheap. Leather, polished wood finishes, high output stereo, glass sunroof, touch screen features and countless other options make it the ultimate African terrain off-roader; a true high-end luxury pot-hole gobbler and tarmac cruncher. However, it defers reverently to its big brother, the 3 Ton Lexus LX570; Toyotas’ luxury arm’s ultimate gadget and toy laden luxury flagship. Its 5.7 litre, 383bhp, 14 miles per gallon, petrol fuelled, strong as granite, fuel guzzling V8 engine is refined, super quick and super quiet, doing 0-60mph in 6.7 seconds. It’s ride is cosseting, its hand crafted and hand stitched ultra soft nappa leather seats and ultra specced interior insulates and ensconces its elevated sneering occupants from potholes, dust, noise and the struggling world below, relaxes them and ferries them in total luxury. It is designed for speed, not off-road work. It is pointless to attempt to list the luxury equipment on board the Lexus LX 570. It’s the 4WD of choice for rich Saudis and wealthy Americans who can afford the huge fuel bills associated with running it. As I said earlier, it is not meant for muddy fields, dirt tracks or suspension clanging off-road work. Oteng-Adjei must have enjoyed it. He’ll surely miss it.
I’ve grumbled several times about the lack of any policy regarding the purchase of vehicles by our government and its agencies. When a four cylinder Toyota Avensis 1.8 will do perfectly, comfortably, safely and frugally, we’ll use an eight cylinder Toyota Landcruiser 4.2. There appears to be no effort to prudently match our requirements with what we procure when it comes to vehicles. The US Embassy, USAID and US Peace Corps use basic, white, skinny tired, 3.0 Litre, manual, diesel, low specification US$45,000.00 (Made-in-Japan, not America) Nissan Patrols for their cross-country runs. They run them for years. They pool them. They don’t change them every three or four years as we do in Ghana. They wear them out! The United States is the world’s richest country. It values the lives of its citizens highly. Yet thes Nissan Patrols, basic as they are, are safe and comfortable enough for them. But not so Ghana; a poor nation which buys hundreds of US$100,000.00 super-comfort Toyota Landcruiser GXR and VX V8 models every year for the comfort of its plutocrats and chiefs. The Canadian Ambassador uses an X-registration Chrysler 300C. If it was at the Energy ministry, its user would have had it replaced even though it is in fine running condition. Why can’t we cut our coat according to our cloth, institute cost effective measures at vehicle purchases, buy simple, safe, proven workhorses, pool these 4WD’s and insist that our government officials use 1.8L saloon cars for their daily commute? We are a poor, struggling nation. Why must we let our leaders live like kings? We must not. Civil society should make a case for the adoption of a policy that ensures frugality in our vehicle purchases and distribution. The Ministry of Transport is supposed to be giving green coloured license plates to government vehicles. Apart from security related vehicles, all government owned vehicles should be tagged with these green plates. But that is not the case. Most ministers are still using private vehicle plates. Where has the ministry got with its inventory of the country’s vehicles?
Nowadays one cannot complain about things he/she is powerless to change without offering “solutions”. I humbly appeal to the new, energetic Chief of Staff to do the following:
i. Cause an investigation as to: How these vehicles were procured, how much we should have paid for them, who authorized payment for them, whether due processes were followed in acquiring them, whether there were more suitable alternatives and where the vehicles are currently.
ii. Investigate whether Dr. Oteng-Adjei’s Toyota Landcruiser was indeed involved in an accident, the gravity of the accident, the circumstances and cause of the accident, who was driving the vehicle and whether the person driving was authorized to drive the vehicle, the particulars of the damage: i.e whether it was so damaged as to require replacing, whether it was reported to the police, whether the police and ministry have reports on the accident and the condition, and most importantly where the said crashed Toyota Landcruiser is currently.
iii. Investigate the details of the “arrangement’’ reached between the Ministry of Energy, Dr. Oteng-Adjei and the Ministry of Environment and Science, whether it was reduced into writing and what the terms of the said arrangement were.
v. Investigate the yet to be denied accusations made by K.T. Hammond that Dr. Oteng-Adjei still has in his possession a VW Phaeton bought for him in his capacity as Minister for Energy by GRIDCO, why it was given to him and whether it is regular to do so. If found inappropriate, sanction offending personnel.
I also humbly urge Mr. Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff to immediately institute (through the Transport ministry?) a code of discipline among users/drivers of state owned vehicles, especially Toyota Landcruisers. Why!! Do they have a right to overtake everyone every time, push us off the road, demand to be given way, drive on the wrong side of the road, drive on the opposite side of the road, act with impunity and without courtesy etc? It stinks, is offensive and is an affront to us, the ‘ordinary/common’ Ghanaian. He must also ensure that the Transport ministry quickly completes the inventory of government vehicles. It’s not rocket science.
Last year in the afternoon of Holy Thursday, John Jinapor driving a Navy Lexus LX 570 (maybe one of the four Lexus LX 570 meant for the rural electrification project?) overtook about 30 cars and with strobe lights flashing in the bumper and warning alarm buzzing, ignored the police directing traffic at the Airport bypass road and got on to the new link road to Spintex. I felt sad for the young man and the sneering and disdainful “get out of my way” look on his face as he forced oncoming traffic to give him way. Power, African style, “sweet”. One day he will leave office… His behavior contrasts sharply with that of the Inspector General of Police (GP-1) who sits patiently in traffic after work on the Switchback Road. A true gentleman. Hats off also to the government appointee who sits patiently in a black Landcruiser GR 3255 09 in Spintex traffic and does not overtake the miles of snarling traffic the way ‘common’ drivers of ministers and other actors do.
Is a Toyota Landcruiser license to do as one pleases?
I’ve refrained from criticizing Dr Oteng-Adjei in his choice of vehicle as a minister of a poor, hungry, third world, beggar nation. I leave that to his conscience and that of others who are living like kings at our painful expense. When Barack Obama asked us to build strong institutions and not strongmen, we applauded him. But we did not understand him.
We are not refining, fine tuning, improving our methods as a nation. Everything and anything goes.
Johnny Blukoo-Allotey,
Accra. Ghana