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The Ashanti Regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, has responded angrily to claims by the minority in Parliament that it is needless for ex-president John Dramani Mahama  to be probed over his involvemnt in the transfer of some GH¢40 million from the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), to the presidency, through an account allegedly run by his former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

Former Chief Executive of BOST, Kwame Awuah-Darko, is alleged to have transferred the money into to the Chief of Staff’s account at the Bank of Ghana between August 2015 and January 2017.

The minority have put in a defense that the payment were monies accrued from the security fees taken from BDCs to make payments on the cost of petroleum products supplied by Goil but Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako insists there is still a need for forensic audit.

Spokesperson for the minority on Energy, Adam Mutawakilu, says a probe will not be necessary because the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) was already looking into the issue.

“The best authority has been given the mandate to investigate and therefore we should allow them to do their job…if they [EOCO] feels that there is a need for a forensic audit, they will engage those people [involved in the transfer]...

“We feel that at the end of the day, we will be vindicated,” he said.

However, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi believes it is highly likely that former president Mahama and his appointees  would be found guilty after proper investigations have been conducted.  

He pointed out that if a mere gift like a Ford car could move the former president to award road contracts, then it was unwise to believe GH¢40.5m can't corrupt him.

In his view, “absolutely nothing could wean Mahama off corruption. Corruption is part of his make up, it is in his gene”.

“If you have a former president who would with open arms accept a ford car to award a road contract, then you can rightly tell GH¢40 million would sweep him off his feet. Under his presidency, it was visible to see corruption hovering around like a human being. His administration enjoyed this absurd practice. He is corrupt and has always been”.

Chairman Wontumi continued that “under this same John Mahama, he allowed  Smarttys, a company contracted to brand  116 Metro Mass Transit Buses over-bill Ghanaians to the tune of about GH¢1.9million.”

In 2014, officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) uncovered a GH¢7.9 million deep-rooted rot at the National Service Secretariat (NSS), and Chairman Wontumi added that such history should inform Ghanaians that former president Mahama wanted to use the account set-up by Mr. Debrah to rip-off the nation.