Mahama petition to probe $8.8m blown on 53-year-old military vehicles from Azerbaijan scrapyard

Mr. Ola Durojaiye, also known as Kwame Danquah, is from Ghana. He has asked President John Dramani Mahama to investigate a purchase of military vehicles. The cost was $8.8 million for 53-year-old vehicles from an Azerbaijan scrapyard.

Durojaiye calls these vehicles obsolete and dangerous for troops. He stated that they were delivered in poor condition. They lack essential spare parts and main armaments, making them useless.

He noted that the BTR-70s are outdated and defective. What should have been a strategic acquisition has become a logistical disaster. A Forward Repair Team was sent to Sudan for repairs, but only one APC shows limited mobility.

Three senior military officers are implicated in this issue. They allegedly oversaw the spending of $8.8 million on non-functional vehicles from Azerbaijan. Former Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul was involved in this purchase.

Sources say he managed the acquisition of 20 armoured vehicles for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). These vehicles were made during the Soviet era and are unfit for duty. The BTR-70 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) were manufactured in 1972.

Each vehicle cost about $440,000, totaling $8.8 million for all. They were supplied by Messrs Double ST Limited and sourced from a scrapyard in Azerbaijan. Military sources have labeled these 53-year-old vehicles as “death traps.”

Additionally, a man claiming to be Colonel Segbawu Lameworna wrote an open letter to Lt. Gen. William Agyapong, Chief of Defence Staff. He accused Agyapong of conducting a smear campaign against former CDS Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah.