The Transport Minister of Ghana, Dzifa Ativor, resigned on Wednesday following a scandal regarding reports that she spent roughly $1 million to repaint more than 100 buses with portraits of the country’s recent leaders.
The Transport Minister of Ghana, Dzifa Ativor, resigned on Wednesday following a scandal regarding reports that she spent roughly $1 million to repaint more than 100 buses with portraits of the country’s recent leaders.
Mrs. Avitor provided a contract to a private firm to spray paint the buses, which were imported, with the faces of recent Ghanaian presidents including the current President John Mahama.
Once the news of the repainting came to light, the opposition party and several anti-corruption groups began to assail President Mahama for what they viewed as wasteful spending.
The scandal broke just as the country was forced to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency loans to help right its faltering economy. Part of the conditions for the emergency loans was a promise by the Ghanaian government to rein in spending. Earlier this week, President Mahama banned travel on first class tickets by all government officials.