...?12m charge whittled down to ?3m

Mr. Isaac E. Edumadze, the Central Regional Minister, has been saved from any further embarrassment and a looming law-suit following the timely intervention of the Central Regional Secretariat of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to settle the differences between him and the owner of the taxi cab he snatched at gun-point last month.

Following their (GPRTU) intervention, the car has been relocated at its base, Suhum, some days back while the association has also agreed to pay something in the region of ?3million on behalf of the Minister as compensation to the owner, Chronicle has learnt.

Before the Central Regional branch of the GPRTU stepped in, there was an impasse between the Minister and the owner of the Suhum Taxi Branch of the GPRTU over the bill forwarded to the Minister and the release of the taxi cab which is at the center of the controversy.

Chronicle has learnt that after the Minister was invited to the Castle by President J.A. Kufuor and asked to render an apology and release the car to the owner, on July 31, a four-member delegation led by Mr. Atta Koranteng, the Chairman for Suhum Taxi Branch of the GPRTU was dispatched to Cape Coast to bring the taxi cab but they came back to Suhum without the car.

There was a stalemate over a ?12million bill the owner and his delegation presented to Minister Edumadze, in respect of the deplorable state of the car they saw at Cape Coast MTTU, Chronicle was told.

“The expectation was high when Atta Koranteng announced to the members at a meeting that he was leading a delegation to Cape Coast to bring down the taxi cab which was hijacked by the Central Regional Minister. But when they returned without the vehicle some of us could not believe what we were hearing and, therefore, urged the union to institute legal action against the minister since what he did was not part of the functions of the minister,” an aggrieved transport owner who pleaded anonymity told Chronicle at Suhum over the weekend.

Chronicle gathered that after President Kufuor had ordered the Minister to release the car to its owner, the members of Suhum Taxi Branch of the GPRTU heave a sight of relive, therefore arranged to go for the car on July 31. It was agreed that a bill should be estimated and forwarded to the minister for the inconveniences among other things that his action has caused the car owner and the entire Association.

The delegation was shocked when they arrived at Cape Coast MTTU only to realise that the car, which was snatched and drove all the way from Suhum in the Eastern Region to Cape Coast was in a very deplorable state.

It was discovered that some of the tires under the taxi cab had been deflated while the front door glass was found smashed.

All the attempt and the labour by the mechanic who was among the delegation to start the car proved futile, Chronicle has gathered. It was also found that there was no engine oil and break fluid in the car.

After the inspection, the team headed to the Regional administration where after waiting for a while the minister arrived and invited them to his office where he is reported to have rendered an unqualified apology to the owner and admitted that he over reacted. After the Minister had rendered the apology, Chairman Koranteng took to the floor and told the minister and his staff who were present that they have prepared a ?12million estimated bill for him as compensation for the owner and his driver who has still not recovered from the trauma he went through when the car was snatched from him at gun-point.

The amount Chronicle learnt, also comprised daily sales of the car for the number of days it was detained by the minister in Cape Coast. The bill also includes the replacement of the old engine for a new one.

Chronicle sources at Suhum Taxi Branch defended the position of association for the ?12 million estimated bill the Union presented to the minister.

In fact it is true that nobody may buy this car for ?12million which the union estimated but the crest of the matter is that, the association may want it to serve as a deterrent to everyone who may take the law into his hands as the case of Edumadze and also the hardship it went through.

“No body should think that they are trying to capitalize on this to enrich ourselves but I can tell you that people were spread all over the country looking for this car”, Mr. Kofi Bonsu, a resident of Suhum pointed out.

Chronicle gathered that when an estimated bill of ?12 million was given to the Minister, he(Minister) asked the delegation to leave his office for a while. After waiting outside for almost an hour, he called them back only to meet a number of people from Cape Coast GPRTU, but their presence could not help matters.

The Minister therefore, handed, over the issue to the Central Regional branch of the GPRTU who later met in Koforidua where a compromise was arrived for an amicable settlement.