The 87 Hyundai Gallopers which were left to rot at the Institute of Local Government Studies some 18 years ago, has finally been auctioned.
The vehicles were ordered in the year 2000 by the government of then-President Jerry John Rawlings, at the cost of $30,000 each.
But after almost two decades, the vehicles which had been left at the mercy of the weather, rusty and wretched, have been valued at 19,150 cedis each by the State Transport Company.
The Finance Ministry ordered the valuation and subsequent sale in order to salvage what is left of the vehicles.
Even though 11 vehicles are still left at the local government institute where the Korean-made vehicles were parked, our sources say they have all been sold out.
The public sale took place sometime in May 2019.
About 110 of the Hyundai Galloper vehicles were imported to be used by Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) across the country.
The government took delivery of 27 of them that year. The remaining 87 came in batches over a period of three years.
But the John Kufuor government which came into power in 2001, refused to distribute the vehicles because there was no agreement backing the purchase.
Successive governments thereafter, could not reach an amicable settlement with the importers of the vehicles, African Automobile Company Limited, for them to be used.
The decision to auction the vehicles, according to Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng, was necessitated by the government’s apprehension over the perception the rotting vehicles will send to the taxpayer.
