Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, has questioned the integrity of the judges involved in the purchase of government vehicles at prices below their market value.
Mr. Thompson says the definition of ‘auction’ and the practice where used cars by state officials are sold to public officers at relatively lower prices are incongruous.
He is wondering the due diligence made by the judges before indulging in such ridiculous purchases.
The ‘reasonable man’s test’, Mr Thompson says, has been used by judges to jail people for stealing goods and wonders why they didn’t apply same principle in their supposed auction.
He has avowed to take the matter up to the necessary quarters to ensure the judges involved do not hold themselves as such anymore.
Read his full write up below;
Mensah Thompson of ASEPA writes…
AG’s REPORT, THE JUDGES FAILED THEIR OWN TEST – ASEPA TO TAKE MATTER UP
The Oxford dictionary’s definition for auction is “a public sale in which goods are sold to the highest bidder”
I don’t see where or how selling a car to a public officer because he is used the car for sometime fits this definition but the impression created in Ghana that an auction means selling government assets at ridiculous rates way lower than the market value is wrongful, unacceptable, illegal and a breach of a duty of care by public officers.
In the recent case involving the Judges, the Judges claim they were misled by the judicial service to purchase those vehicles and therefore they should absolved of any blame.
Question is, what due diligence did “my Lords” do before the purchase of Ghanafuo agyapade3 at such ridiculous prices? Have my Lords forgotten about the principle of the “reasonable man’s test”? A principle they have used severally to convict people who purchase stolen goods?
When someone walks up to you with an offer to buy an iPhone 13 whose market value is about 8,000 cedis at a price of 100 cedis, what would any reasonable man think or do? Wouldn’t that automatically trigger an alert for you to probe further to see whether the product was acquired legitimately?
Secondly my Lords understand very clearly that for auctions there are laid down procedures, no auction is done in secret, and auctions are for highest bidders, that’s why a Michael Jackson gloves can sell at $1million at a public auction because the principle of auction is not to dispose of the property, the principle is to get as much value for the property as you can get on the market.
So my Lords know very clearly that a 2017 Landcruiser in a public auction will not sell at 50,000 cedis, the least would be 300,000 and at most 500,000 but it’s an auction and some one can even offer 1million depending on how much value he places on the car.
For example someone can offer a million cedis for the Chief Justices vehicle in a public auction because he has sentimental attachments to it.
Finally, my Lords should understand that the burden of morality on “ajudgefuor” is very high, my lords are the custodians of the law and must ensure that at all times they live above the social standards of reproach.
This embarrassing spectacle defeats the constitutional requirement of being a judge…a requirement of high moral character and integrity.
My Lords should not shudder to think that this revelations from the AG’s report would not come with any consequences, ASEPA would definitely take this matter up to the appropriate quarters, all the ajudgefuor involved in this messy sales of government assets cannot continue to hold office as judges!!!
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
