Mr. Ola Durojaiye alias Kwame Danquah a citizen of Ghana has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to probe the $8.8 million blown on 53-year-old military vehicles from an Azerbaijan scrapyard.
The petitioner describes the vehicles as obsolete, unserviceable, and a danger to troops deployed in peacekeeping missions.
Durojaiye stated in his petition, “These vehicles were commissioned despite being delivered in an advanced state of wear and tear. They lack essential spare parts and came without their main armaments, rendering them effectively useless,”.
“The BTR-70s were not only outdated but also incomplete and defective. What was meant to be a strategic acquisition has turned into a logistical and operational disaster,” he noted.
‘Even after dispatching a Forward Repair Team to attempt repairs in Sudan, only one APC shows any sign of limited mobility, and even that depends on parts cannibalised from the others”.
Meanwhile, three senior military officers have been fingered in the military allegedly blowing $8.8 million on non-functional 53-year-old military vehicles from a scrapyard in Azerbaijan.
It will be recalled that former Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul was exposed for allegedly overseeing the purchase of 53-year-old non-functional military vehicles from a scrapyard in Azerbaijan at a cost of US$8.8 million.
According to sources, Dominic Nitiwul oversaw the purchase of 20 armoured vehicles by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). But sadly enough, these vehicles were manufactured during the era of the former Soviet Union and are not fit for active duty.
The armoured vehicles in question are, BTR-70 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), originally manufactured in 1972 in the former Soviet Union.
Each vehicle reportedly cost US$440,000, bringing the total expenditure to US$8.8 million. They were supplied by Messrs Double ST Limited and sourced from Azerbaijan.
The vehicles were reportedly acquired from a scrapyard in Azerbaijan, where they had been abandoned due to their age and disuse.
The vehicles, now 53 years old, have been described “death traps” by military sources.
A man claiming to be Colonel Segbawu Lameworna an unknown name within the Ghana Armed Forces has written an open letter to the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. William Agyapong, accusing him of a smear campaign against former CDS, Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah.
