The auctioneer involved in the irregular auctioning of 24 vehicles at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) risks losing his licence or being suspended for breaching the Auction Sales Act.
This is after the Ghana Auctioneers Association (GAA) referred him to the disciplinary committee over his actions.
A report by the Auditor-General says Alexander Adjei of Alex Mart sold vehicles in an unfair, uncompetitive and less transparent manner.
The vehicles had been sold to MoFA staff even before the auctioning process started resulting in a situation where the auctioneer earned money for no work done, the report said.
The auctioneer, Alex Adjei, side-stepped all the laws governing the proper disposal of government vehicles and disposed of the vehicles, mostly double-cabin pickups, to the staff of the ministry.
He also pocketed a whopping GHS33,203 as his seven percent commission on the sale of the vehicles.
Some of the vehicles were auctioned for GHc1,000. A Nissan Patrol S/W with registration number GV 1285 U was auctioned for GHc4,000.
A Nissan double cabin pick-up with registration number GV 1481 U, was also sold at GH¢2,000, while a Mitsubishi double cabin pick-up went for GH¢1,000. A Galaxy motorcycle was sold at GH¢30.00, while FY motorcycle was also sold at GH¢50.00.
Officials of MoFA pleaded for mercy from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the auctioning of the 24 state vehicles in a manner the Auditor-General described as irregular when they appeared before PAC last month.
The Auditor General’s report says the vehicles were sold in an unfair, uncompetitive and less transparent manner.
The man at the centre of the transactions, Alex Adjei, an auctioneer later admitted he earned a commission for no work done.
He came to this admission when officials of the Ministry of Agriculture appeared before PAC and were grilled for the transaction done in 2013.
The Committee, chaired by Deputy Minority leader James Avedzi found that officials at the Ministry distributed the cars among some staff before the auction could even take off.
Alex Adjei said it was difficult getting the winners of the auction to pay for the cars but when he succeeded in doing so he took his commission of seven percent.
But the president of the Auctioneers Association, Calvin Okine, told Joy News the auctioneer is expected to refund an amount not exceeding three percent of gross proceeds of the sale to the Agric Ministry.
A member of the Public Accounts Committee and Member of Parliament for Kade, Kwabena Ohemeng Tinyaase, who wanted Mr Adjei sanctioned when he appeared before PAC said, “it is the right thing to do. People should be reprimanded for the wrong thing they do especially to the taxpayer.”
He said the auctioneer alone should not be punished but also some officials who colluded with him.
Regarding the commission given to the auctioneer, the MP said the money wasn’t deserved since he did not do any work.
Mr Tinyaase believes as a first time offender, “a suspension will be a modest punishment so that when he returns he will not sin anymore..and wear the cap of an angel.”
“Everybody needs to work for a livelihood and he has to do a good job for a livelihood,” he added.
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