STC to manage Freddie Blay's NPP buses

The acting National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, has taken delivery of mini buses that he promised the constituencies of the party as part of his campaign to win the chairmanship slot of the party.

The promise of the delivery of 275 buses, according to the acting chairman, was to raise funds to run the constituencies across the country.

The move is to financially equip the party at the grassroot level to ensure that strong and effective structures are put in place to guarantee victory for the party in the 2020 polls.

Mr Blay is contesting for the national chairmanship of the NPP alongside two others, Mr Stephen Ayesu Ntim and Dr Richard Amoako Baah.

The annual delegates’ conference

The annual delegates conference of the NPP is slated to take place at the Koforidua Technical University from Friday, 6, to Sunday, 8, July, 2018.

The vehicles have arrived barely two days to the elections and is expected to bolster his chances of winning the chairmanship race.

Even though Mr Blay was not physically present at the ceremony,members of his campaign team led by his spokesperson, Mr Richard Nyama, were present to take delivery of the vehicles.

They took delivery of the Toyota Hiace Super-roof vehicles at the Tema Port in the afternoon of Wednesday in a ceremony witnessed by a section of the media.

Addressing journalists at the Tema Port yesterday after six of the vehicles were offloaded from three containers, Mr Nyama, said contrary to rumours, the vehicles were not personally funded by Mr Blay.

Rather, he said, it was Mr Blay, playing the leading role and a few other associates, who went for a loan facility of $11 million to procure the buses.

STC to manage the buses

Also, he dismissed rumors that the vehicles would be distributed to the constituencies. He explained that they would be handed over to the State Transport Company (STC) Limited to be professionally managed on behalf of the constituencies.

He reiterated that the decision to let the STC manage the buses was essentially to ensure that the buses were managed professionally and to guarantee maximum profitability.

He added that the loan facility contracted to acquire the buses was expected to be paid back in full within the next two years.

Explaining further, he said, part of the proceeds from the management of the buses would be used in servicing the loan facility while another part would go to the constituencies to be used in running their offices.

Finding sustainable financing options

“It is not just a donation, we are procuring through some facility, to make sure that the constituencies will have some means of earning money to undertake some projects in all the constituency activities" he said

The project, he said, was a laudable initiative which would empower the constituencies to depend on themselves and finance their own projects and take care of other expenses at their offices.

According to Mr Nyama, it had become abundantly clear that Mr Blay was determined to change the financing of the party from voluntary donations and contributions to self-financing entities through commercial activities.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh