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• Sosu says the poverty in his constituency is the reason he has refused to use his V8
• The vehicle was bought via a US$100,000 loan facility advanced by the government to MPs
Francis-Xavier Sosu, Member of Parliament for Madina has disclosed that he has been given a Toyota V8 official car purchased via a US$100,000 facility made available to lawmakers, but that he has parked the vehicle.
According to him, he did not feel right driving a V8 in town whiles seeing the level of poverty in his constituency.
He told the host of Citi TV’s Point Of View programme on October 26, 2021, that he had actually requested that he returned the car but that request was turned down.
“I don’t use V8, I have been given but when I look at the level of poverty in my community, I don’t feel right driving V8 around. Honestly, I don’t feel right. So it is parked. I have been given but it is parked.
“I have my small vehicle which the police attempted to destroy yesterday,” he said in respect to a failed arrest on Monday, October 25, when he led a section of his constituents to protest over poor nature of roads in parts of the constituency.
“I actually requested if I could (return it) but they said I couldn’t…. I requested, if I didn’t, I would have said so, I actually requested… in fact I even wanted to take the money so that I can invest it so that I use it to support some of the social projects…” he added.
He explained further that he accepted it because he didn’t want to be tagged a deviant, he is quick to add that the only time he would consider using the V8 will be for outstation duties when he has to make long trips.
Asked when it would feel right to use the vehicle without feeling bad about doing so, he answered: “Unless there is a real need for it, there are certain occasions that may necessarily require its use, maybe you are accompanying a sitting president and they are requiring that you all appear in a particular way…”
Months back, former deputy Health Minister and MP for Ledzokuku, Bernard Okoe-Boye revealed on the same programme that he actually bought a pick-up with his MP car loan when he was in Parliament.
In his case, he said he wanted the people to better relate to him and to cut down on the perception that he was living the big life at their expense.
“I did not go in for V8 with my car loan, I got a pickup and it was transparent. In fact, when I started using it, all four windows were transparent, but break-ins were happening because people could see what was in the car, so it was the back glasses that were tinted, so when I am driving, you see me.”
“That is why I was not chauffeured because they made comments like, you see them (MPs), there is a policeman around. That is why I never had any police, I just made sure for security reasons, I had a friend by me at any time,” he stressed.
