Chief Justice Leaves State Vehicles To Rot

By Cecil Mensah

As officials from the office of the Chief Justice continue to inundate the Attorney- General’s Department with pleas to retool the Judicial Service for a smooth administration of justice, it has emerged the canker of lack of maintenance has hit the service severely.

Information available to The Herald reveals that a vast majority of vehicles given out to the Judicial Service have recklessly been abandoned, and are rotting away in private garages across the country.

According to an audit report dated April 7, 2011, a review of transport management procedures of the Judiciary Service revealed that nine vehicles belonging to the service have been abandoned at various garages and office premises ranging between three months to four years.

The vehicles are: a Toyota- Land Cruiser with registration number GR 2248E, which is now stationed at B.39 Motors –Osu; a VW pick-up with registration number GT4773P, now stationed at Extra ‘O’ –Odawoa and an Audi A4 with registration number GR6607J, also stationed at the Supreme Court premises, and are all decaying.

The other are Audi an A6 GR6561J, stationed at the Supreme Court premises, Audi A6 with registration number GR6568J, parked at the Supreme Court premise and a Toyota Corolla GR 1681K, currently parked at the Judiciary Training Institute.

The rest are: an Audi 6 with registration number GR6565J, also parked at the Judiciary Training Institute and a VW Transporter GR 6802 Q, parked at a workshop along Kanda Highway.

Verifications conducted by the auditors at the various locations where the vehicles have been abandoned have disclosed that the vehicles have been indeed, left to vagaries of the weather, and are at various stages of deterioration.

According to the report, the possibility of the vehicles being stolen or the various parts being removed at their present locations cannot be overruled.

The deterioration of the vehicles could also affect their present value, should management decide to off by dispose them by auction.

The audit report recommends that management urgently take a decision to commit funds to either have the vehicles repaired or boarded for auction to avoid further deterioration and loss in value.

Even though ‘’section 1101 of the store regulation states that it is the responsibility of all supervisory officers and staff directly in-charge of stores and equipment to determine what surplus, obsolescent and unserviceable stores are lying in their store-house and compounds.

“It is their further responsibility to take immediate action to dispose of such categories of stores and when necessary to report the circumstances to the appropriate authority for disposal action’’ none of this was adhered to by the officers of the service in their handlings of the vehicles.

Management had still not responded to the observations made in the audit, the auditors disclosed in their report.