Osafo-Maafo replies Bright Simons over GH¢7.4m expenditure on SUVs in Dec 2019 claim

Bright Simons questions buying of cars for public sector

Retract and apologize, Office of Senior Presidential Advisor to Bright Simons

Osafo-Maafo writes to Bright Simons

The Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor has clarified details of an earlier GhanaWeb story with the headline, “Office of the Senior Minister spent GH¢7.4m on SUVs in Dec 2019 – Bright Simons.”

In a letter signed by the Technical Advisor to Yaw Osafo-Maafo, it clarified that the vehicles that were said to have been procured by the then Office of the Senior Minister were done in the name of some 16 selected public sector institutions and for specific reasons.

“It is worth noting that the vehicles including the saloons and station wagons and the motorbikes were procured for the 16 Selected Entities (selected public sector institutions) in the year 2020 for an amount of GH¢8,476,784.80 and not December 2019. Further to this expenditure, additional funds were disbursed and have been committed for other procurement activities (especially COVID 19 IT equipment support) and consultancy services,” portions of the document said.

The document further urged Bright Simons, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, to apprise himself with the details of what the monies were spent on and not to create an impression that the former Senior Minister goofed.

It has also called on the policy analyst to render an apology to Yaw Osafo-Maafo.

“The Government of Ghana strongly recognizes the PSRRP as a vital social sector intervention which if fully implemented would greatly improve service delivery in these Selected Entities for our citizens and the private sector. For instance, the adoption of electronic/mobile systems to enhance key services such as births and deaths registration, passport applications and issuance, driver and vehicle licensing among others is also aligned with government's digitization agenda.

“In line with the mandate of the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor, we will continue initiatives to further improve the efficiency in the delivery of their services to the private sector and the citizenry. The public is hereby assured that, this office is highly committed to coordinating the implementation of public sector reforms in line with the tenets of the NPSRS in a transparent, accountable, and inclusive manner.

“In the light of the foregoing, we respectfully call on Mr. Bright Simons to apprise himself with the facts contained in this statement and with immediate effect withdraw the unfortunate public statements and render an apology to the public through the same media by Monday 14' March 2022. Additionally, in the spirit of effective nation building, we wish to extend an invitation to Mr. Bright Simons for a meeting to discuss further on ongoing public sector reforms being coordinated by this office and how we could deepen our relationship to improve the public sector of our dear nation at his earliest convenience,” the document added.

Read the full details of the document here: