Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, has revealed a rather interesting twist regarding the controversial Ford Expedition that was given as a gift to former President John Dramani Mahama.
The seasoned journalist stated on Wednesday's edition of Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show that if one goes by thelist put out by former Deputy Chief of Staff in the immediate-past administration, Johnny Osei Kofi, "you won’t see the Ford there; It’s not on the list".
According to him, the car is listed in a copy that the Logistics Officer of the office of the President handed over, but interestingly it "has no chasis number" and has also been "retrofitted" to make it look like a "machine-gun".
Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, first disclosed on Neat FM's Morning Show, "Ghana Montie" that over 200 cars are missing from the Flagstaff House pool of vehicles.
That revelation came shortly after government set up a task-force to retrieve state assets unlawfully being held by individuals.
Last week, the Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Henry Nana Boakye, said the Ford Expedition given to President Mahama by the Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanazoe, was among the fleet of vehicles missing at the seat of government.
According to him, officials at the seat of government have searched every where for the alleged “bribe car” but its whereabout remains unknown.
“In fact, the Ford Expedition which they claimed they have added to the pool of vehicles is not part of the cars…I went to the Jubilee House yesterday and demanded to see that vehicle that Kanazoe gifted to Mahama…but to my dismay, I found out that the vehicle was not part of the cars handed over to this government…” he said during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s flagship programme last Friday.
Mr. Djibril Kanazoe reportedly gave a Ford Expedition to President Mahama in 2012.
The Mahama administration in June 2016 explained that the car which generated huge controversy resulting in a probe by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has been placed in the vehicle pool at the Presidency as per established convention.
The outcome of CHRAJ's probe indicated that whiles the gift was prohibited, it did not constitute a bribe or conflict of interest.
Then earlier this week, Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Asure Awuni made a shocking revelation concerning the vehicle.
In a lengthy reportage, the journalist reveals that his name was included in a report by the transition team of the NPP stating the fact that the "prohibited gift" which is the Ford Expedition vehicle was truly in the flagstaff house.
Then comes Mr Baako's shocker.
Contributing to a panel discussion on "Kokrokoo", he insisted that the Ford Expedition is not missing but one has to go through almost four lists before it can be located.
"...it's at the Flagstaff House, it is there but there’s an interesting thing...The NDC list that they issued by a certain Johnny Osei Kofi, when you go to that list; you won’t see the Ford there. It’s not on the list. I have gone for a copy of also the Administrator General’s list. I have also scanned through, the Ford is not listed. These are problematic areas in terms of record keeping. But incidentally, I have a copy of what the Logistics Officer of the office of the President handed over, interestingly I found it there. I found it in the copy that is available at the Flagstaff House when it comes to the section Ford.
"What is significant is that there’s no chassis number but the number that the car was using ER 307-09 is here. But there’s another list attached to the one available at the Flagstaff House which has all the numbers. It uses different number now, that’s number 137. It’s GW 8212-11 which is known as Ford Expedition King Ranch. Now what I find interesting, I suspect that maybe typo. If you look at the chassis number, they’re all correct till 1; the one from the Flagstaff House has become F instead of E. I don’t want to mention the entire thing, the long initials…I have all the pictures of the car here. Internally, they retrofitted it. They’ve made the car like a machine gun…It was being used by the Counter-Assault Team (CAT) of the Presidential Security Detail…for purely security reasons and it is at the Flagstaff House as I speak. Let’s just be clear about that thing. The question that it’s missing is not true.”
The discrepancies in the county's records-keeping, he said, are likely to create chaos and therefore called for a second look at the policy of allowing former government officials to purchase vehicles they used after their term of office had expired because there's the tendency to "play on the keyboard of people's emotions".
"You throw these matters into the street, the masses win. So, perhaps, the government needs to think that in order not to suffer any collateral damage, we should take a second look at this policy," he concluded. |
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