The Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation (BOST) Limited Company has refuted allegations surrounding its decision to purchase iPhones for some critical staff of the company.
A statement released by the company noted with dismay a section of a procurement report making rounds in the traditional and social media space claiming the company bought 18 iPhones at a cost of Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty-One Ghana Cedis (GHS28,541,261.00) for some critical officers of the company.
The Company stated that;
“We would like to respond to the misinformation as follows:
The company bought eighteen (18) pieces of iPhone 13 Pro Max phones for our corporate executives in May 2022.
The total cost of the phones stood at Two Hundred and Thirty-Four Thousand Ghana Cedis (234,000.00) grossed up for taxes at Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Twelve Ghana Cedis, Sixteen Pesewas (GHS285,412.16). The amount is captured in the financial reports of the company and the Auditor General who audits the company, at least over the past three years, vetted the decision and the value and made no adverse findings about same.
The reason for the purchase of the devices was to equip the team to stay in touch with the management information and business intelligence systems of the company for efficient decision making.
In the petroleum storage and transportation space, a split second can make the difference between success and failure.
The results so far attest to the efficiency of the systems put in place which includes the access points for key members of the team to access processed information for efficient decision making.
The Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty-One Ghana Cedis (GHS28,541,261.00) in the report may be due to a typographical error of placing the dot(.) two steps to the right which on the face of the document converted The GHS285,412.61 to GHS28,541,261.00.”
The company entreated the public to ignore the claim that the company bought eighteen (18) phones at 28 million and that it is both “erroneous and mischievous.”
It said, the information is available on the Public Procurement Authority through the link https://tenders.ppa.gov.gh/contracts/12301.
BOST urged its stakeholders who stumble upon bits and pieces of the said information on the company to reach out to the Corporate Communications Department for any clarification before proceeding to make such statements which in the end could amount to misleading the public.
