Smarttys Management and Production Limited has repayed the final instalment of the Ghc 1.5m that they were supposedly overpaid to brand Metro Mass buses with the likeness of Ghana’s Presidents.
The company had made earlier payments in January and February, and paid the last instalment with a letter dated March 31, the final day for payment under the terms of the deal they struck with the Attorney General’s department.
The last payment was an amount of GH¢548,608.04, adding to the earlier instalments made in the first two months of the year.
Ghanaians were up in uproar when it became public knowledge that Smarttys, owned by known NDC aficionado, actress Selassie Ibrahim, had been paid Ghc 3.5m to carry out rebranding on 116 Metro Mass buses with the likeness of Ghanaian Presidents, past and present.
After the public outrage, the President ordered the Attorney General to carry out an investigation into the deal, which found several discrepancies, but only recommended for Ghc 1.9m of the money to be retrieved from Smarttys. That figure was later reduced to Ghc 1.5, and the company was given a deadline of March 31, 2016 to return that money.
As typically happens to the rich and powerful, Ghc 1.5m is not enough to get anyone jailed, but we all know someone who stole Ghc 50 would definitely get a jail sentence for their crime.