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Missing vehicles: Former Deputy Chief of Staff accuses gov’t of cheap politics

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A former Deputy Chief of Staff under erstwhile President John Mahama has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of scheming to use the issue of alleged missing vehicles to demonise former government officials.

Johnny Osei Kofi in a statement Thursday said the claim that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s movement has been negatively impacted because of some unreturned vehicles is “baseless and without merit.”

“As part of the transition process, both the Assets and Logistics Committee on the NPP side were given a detailed list of all vehicles in the pool at the Presidency,” he said in the statement, adding in all a total of 641 vehicles were given to the new government.

Related Article: 208 cars missing at Flagstaff House

The NPP government has been tracking down more than 200 cars it said have been missing from the pool of cars at the Presidency.

Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin in an interview with some media houses said the President has been left with a BMW vehicle which was purchased in 2007 to use.

He said the situation has compelled the President to resort to the use of “his own Land Cruiser.”

“So vehicles right from 2007 when these Ghana at 50 vehicles were bought right down to now, if you go to the presidential pool, you cannot find any of them and it is not as if those are the only ones. There are lots of other vehicles,” he said.

Administrator General, David Yaro who is in charge of the list of state properties said there are 678 cars at the office of the President, which is 37 more than the one quoted by the former Deputy Chief of Staff.

Some national security operatives seized five cars from opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s National Organiser, Kofi Adams home whilst he was overseas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They have threatened to do more.

But Mr Osei Kofi said the action of the NPP government is motivated by malice to malign former government officials.

“It is obvious from the foregoing that Eugene Arhin’s intervention is part of a grand scheme by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to demonise members of the previous administration for cheap partisan propaganda purposes,” he said.

Read full statement:

200 STATE VEHICLES NOT MISSING

I am constrained to correct yet another distortion about the whereabouts of vehicles belonging to the Presidency. On Wednesday, Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Flagstaff House, in a widely circulated interview, claimed that 200 vehicles in the pool at the presidency were missing.

He also claimed that the supposed disappearance of these vehicles has created an acute shortage compelling President Akufo Addo to resort to the use of 2007 model BMW vehicles and in some instances his own cross-country vehicle for official duties.

The claims of Eugene Arhin are false, baseless without merit. They represent a continuation of the distortions and bad faith that have characterised the conduct of the NPP side of the Transition team.

As part of the transition process, both the Assets and Logistics Committee on the NPP side were given a detailed list of all vehicles in the pool at the Presidency.

More importantly, a total of 641 vehicles were listed and properly accounted for. This was duly captured in the handing over notes. The breakdown of the vehicles are indicated in the table below;

NO.

VEHICLE TYPE

 

NUMBER OF VEHICLES

1

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER V8

 

142

2

TOYOTA HILUX

 

8

3

TOYOTA HIACE

 

3

4

TOYOTA AVALON

 

33

5

TOYOTA FORTUNER

 

2

6

TOYOTA COROLLA

 

58

7

TOYOTA AVENSIS

 

55

8

TOYOTA CAMRY

 

75

9

TOYOTA HYUNDAI i10

 

52

10

NISSAN TEANA

 

5

11

MAHINDRA

 

4

12

TOYOTA PRADO

 

54

13

NISSAN PATROL

 

7

14

NISSAN NAVARA

 

6

15

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER (LX)

 

24

16

HONDA MOTOR BYKES

 

4

17

NISSAN SENTRA

 

17

18

HYUNDAI ELANTRA

 

7

19

NISSAN SUNNY

 

4

20

HYUNDAI ACCENT

 

8

21

FORD/PASSAT

 

6

22

CHRYSLER

 

15

23

MERCEDES BENZ

 

2

24

HYUNDAI

 

4

25

BMW

 

12

26

IVECO

 

10

27

MITSUBISHI PAJERO

 

2

 

TOTAL

 

641

It is befuddling that several weeks after the NPP administration begun this campaign of disinformation and harassment of members of the immediate past government, it has as yet failed to put out an iota of evidence to back these claims.

If the NPP government was sincere about these claims, it would have published a full list of all allegedly missing vehicles and provide specific information on each of them.

I also found astonishing, the claim by Eugene Arhin that President Akufo Addo cannot find decent vehicles to use and has had to rely on 2007 model BMWs for his movements since becoming President.

It must be placed on record that the use of the BMWs and his personal vehicle, if it is true, is not due to the non-availability of presidential vehicles. It is clearly a choice that he made on his own accord.

Among the vehicles handed over to the NPP team were two bulletproof salon cars and two bulletproof cross country vehicles specifically dedicated to the use of the President. Both sets of bulletproof vehicles are relatively new and in good condition for the transportation of the President.

Added to this is a fleet of almost new Mercedes Benz vehicles. Surely if President Akufo Addo can use 10 year old vehicles, he should be able to use vehicles that are relatively new and in good condition.

The attempt therefore by Eugene Arhin to create the impression of scarcity and use same as a pretext to justify the unwarranted falsehood about missing vehicles belonging to the Presidency is disingenuous and unbecoming of a public official whose actions must be guided by integrity and candour.

It is obvious from the foregoing that Eugene Arhin’s intervention is part of a grand scheme by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to demonise members of the previous administration for cheap partisan propaganda purposes.

In the interest of transparency and candour, a detailed inventory of all vehicles accounted for during the transition process has been attached to this statement.

The onus now lies squarely on the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to provide very specific details of the supposedly missing vehicles out of the list provided below.

JOHNNY OSEI KOFI, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF

Thursday, 9th February, 2017

 

Find below the full statement.

200 STATE VEHICLES NOT MISSING

I am constrained to correct yet another distortion about the whereabouts of vehicles belonging to the Presidency. On Wednesday, Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Flagstaff House, in a widely circulated interview, claimed that 200 vehicles in the pool at the presidency were missing.

He also claimed that the supposed disappearance of these vehicles has created an acute shortage compelling President Akufo Addo to resort to the use of 2007 model BMW vehicles and in some instances his own cross-country vehicle for official duties.

The claims of Eugene Arhin are false, baseless without merit. They represent a continuation of the distortions and bad faith that have characterised the conduct of the NPP side of the Transition team.

As part of the transition process, both the Assets and Logistics Committee on the NPP side were given a detailed list of all vehicles in the pool at the Presidency.

More importantly, a total of 641 vehicles were listed and properly accounted for. This was duly captured in the handing over notes. The breakdown of the vehicles are indicated in the table below;

NO. VEHICLE TYPE   NUMBER OF VEHICLES
1 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER V8   142
2 TOYOTA HILUX   8
3 TOYOTA HIACE   3
4 TOYOTA AVALON   33
5 TOYOTA FORTUNER   2
6 TOYOTA COROLLA   58
7 TOYOTA AVENSIS   55
8 TOYOTA CAMRY   75
9 TOYOTA HYUNDAI i10   52
10 NISSAN TEANA   5
11 MAHINDRA   4
12 TOYOTA PRADO   54
13 NISSAN PATROL   7
14 NISSAN NAVARA   6
15 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER (LX)   24
16 HONDA MOTOR BYKES   4
17 NISSAN SENTRA   17
18 HYUNDAI ELANTRA   7
19 NISSAN SUNNY   4
20 HYUNDAI ACCENT   8
21 FORD/PASSAT   6
22 CHRYSLER   15
23 MERCEDES BENZ   2
24 HYUNDAI   4
25 BMW   12
26 IVECO   10
27 MITSUBISHI PAJERO   2
  TOTAL   641

 

It is befuddling that several weeks after the NPP administration begun this campaign of disinformation and harassment of members of the immediate past government, it has as yet failed to put out an iota of evidence to back these claims.

If the NPP government was sincere about these claims, it would have published a full list of all allegedly missing vehicles and provide specific information on each of them.

I also found astonishing, the claim by Eugene Arhin that President Akufo Addo cannot find decent vehicles to use and has had to rely on 2007 model BMWs for his movements since becoming President.

It must be placed on record that the use of the BMWs and his personal vehicle, if it is true, is not due to the non-availability of presidential vehicles. It is clearly a choice that he made on his own accord.

Among the vehicles handed over to the NPP team were two bulletproof salon cars and two bulletproof cross country vehicles specifically dedicated to the use of the President. Both sets of bulletproof vehicles are relatively new and in good condition for the transportation of the President.

Added to this is a fleet of almost new Mercedes Benz vehicles. Surely if President Akufo Addo can use 10 year old vehicles, he should be able to use vehicles that are relatively new and in good condition.

The attempt therefore by Eugene Arhin to create the impression of scarcity and use same as a pretext to justify the unwarranted falsehood about missing vehicles belonging to the Presidency is disingenuous and unbecoming of a public official whose actions must be guided by integrity and candour.

It is obvious from the foregoing that Eugene Arhin’s intervention is part of a grand scheme by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to demonise members of the previous administration for cheap partisan propaganda purposes.

In the interest of transparency and candour, a detailed inventory of all vehicles accounted for during the transition process has been attached to this statement.

The onus now lies squarely on the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to provide very specific details of the supposedly missing vehicles out of the list provided below.

JOHNNY OSEI KOFI, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF

Thursday, 9th February, 2017

– See more at: http://citifmonline.com/2017/02/09/presidencys-claim-about-missing-cars-false-ndc/#sthash.vYPHtGfT.dpuf

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