YEA bought no bicycles under Mahama – Former Board Chair

The Claim by the board chairman of the Youth Employment Agency Sammy Awuku that the agency procured bicycles at a unit cost of GHC15, 000 under former President John Mahama is false, a former board chair of the state agency has said.

According to Samuel Jabanyite, no such bicycles were procured under the Mahama administration.

Awuku told Morning Starr host Francis Abban on Tuesday that “Per our investigations, we found out that some bicycles were purchased and each cost GHC15,000. These are normal bicycles I am talking about…In some cases, the YEA does not have data on its beneficiaries but they pay them”.

But in a statement on the issue, Mr. Jabanyite said: “The bicycles were procured in 2006 by the then John Kufour Administration, but had been left in the stores of the agency until the immediate past Board learnt of the bicycles and directed management to assign them to the Community Police Assistants (CPAs) and not for District and Regional Coordinators.

“It should, however, be noted that approval was sought for and subsequently, 216 AG100 Yamaha Motorbikes were procured. These were procured for District Coordinators. The Motorbikes were procured from Japan Motors Co. Ltd for GHS2, 845,000, worked out at GHS13, 171.29 per bike as at April 15, 2016, after going through the National Competitive Tendering procedures specified in the Public Procurement Act, 2003 and in the Guidelines of the Public Procurement Authority of the Republic of Ghana. The bikes arrived when NPP had come to power.”