The Ghana Auctioneers Association has called on President John Dramani Mahama, Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, and the Ministry of Interior to investigate what it describes as growing attempts by individuals to circumvent established public auction procedures using allegedly unauthorised letters from government offices.

The Association says some individuals are presenting letters purportedly issued from the Office of the Chief of Staff to interfere in ongoing auction processes, intimidate members, and, in some cases, redirect or take over vehicles and items that have been officially mandated for auction.

According to the group, these actions are not only disrupting lawful auction operations but also undermining binding contracts issued to licensed auctioneers to dispose of public assets.

Speaking to Citi News, General Secretary of the Ghana Auctioneers Association, Henry Maama Nelson, described the situation as troubling and called for a full-scale investigation into the matter.

He explained that in some instances, individuals present such letters to directors of state institutions during active auction processes, leading to interference and the diversion of items meant for auction.

There are persons who claim they have received letters from the Chief of Staff’s office and then go to the directors of various institutions. That is usually when we have been mandated to dispose of items by public auction, and they infiltrate the process, he said.

Mr Nelson further alleged that in some cases, auctioneers are completely sidelined, with vehicles taken away before they are sold, only for them to later be pressured to issue receipts and waybills for transactions they were not part of.

Sometimes we do not even get any of the cars to sell. They take all the cars away, and at the end of the day, they come asking you to issue receipts and waybills for cars that you have not sold, he added.

He has therefore urged the Ministry of Finance to expedite processes for issuing sale mandates to auctioneers, while cautioning individuals to stay away from interfering in regulated auction activities.