Sack BOST Officials Over iPhone Scandal- Group
A group calling itself the New Ghana Social Justice Forum has demanded the dissolution of the current Board of Directors of the Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation (BOST) Limited Company.
The group massed up at the premises of the Company on Wednesday to protest over its decision to purchase 18 iPhone 13 Pro Max phones for some staff members as well as corruption allegations.
President of the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Yahaya Alhassan told the media the country is “berserk with corruption” while the Energy Ministry is “an industry of corruption”.
They want the top officials of the Company discharged and prosecuted.
“We are calling on all to join this campaign for the prosecution of all BOST top officials and the dissolution of BOST Board members. Had this been in the advanced countries, the Board chairman of BOST should have been imprisoned by now. We are calling on President Akufo-Addo, but what is clear is that the BOST Board members are not in existence. Even though they are here, Ghanaians don’t want them, they should be prosecuted as soon as possible,” he is quoted as saying.
18 iPhones
BOST came under public backlash after a procurement report showed it bought 18 iPhones for its Corporate Executives for Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty-One Ghana Cedis (GHS28,541,261.00).
In a statement released by the Corporate Communications and External Affairs Department, the company said the amount on the procurement report might have resulted from a typographical error.
“The Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty-One Ghana Cedis (GHS28,541,261.00) in the report may be due to a typographical error of placing the dot(.) two steps to the right which on the face of the document converted the GHS285,412.61 to GHS28,541,261.00.”
“The total cost of the phones stood at Two Hundred and Thirty-Four Thousand Ghana Cedis (234,000.00) grossed up for taxes at Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Twelve Ghana Cedis, Sixteen Pesewas (GHS285,412.16).”
Justification
In justification for the purchase, BOST said it was to ensure efficiency in decision-making among some critical staff.
“The reason for the purchase of the devices was to equip the team to stay in touch with the management information and business intelligence systems of the company for efficient decision-making. In the petroleum storage and transportation space, a split second can make the difference between success and failure.
“The results so far attest to the efficiency of the systems put in place which includes the access points for key members of the team to access processed information for efficient decision making.”
