The Akufo-Addo administration’s side of the Transition team had no hand in the ordering of some 43 new vehicles for the Presidency, according to a deputy Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
Speaking on the authority of the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, who was the co-chairman of the Transition team, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah asserted that “there was not even a conversation of this kind to purchase new vehicles or to even request for new vehicles.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”azBWFMVp2E5vdEeLU5QXibEGBtxN9NSP”]A former Presidential staffer in the Mahama administration, Dr. Clement Apaak, had disclosed that his government ordered some 43 new vehicles a few days before leaving office, upon the request of the incoming Akufo-Addo administration.
Dr. Apaak also noted that, the Mahama administration agreed to the request by Nana Akufo-Addo’s side because they felt that the security of the incoming president was of importance.
But speaking to the claims on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah recalled that, “in all the transition meetings that we attended and in all the matters that we discussed, I had never heard of this matter.”
He noted further that “the minutest of requests” are put on paper, so Mr. Apaak was free to substantiate his allegations, with respect to the order of the cars.
“The first step when somebody makes a claim like this will be to ask him whether or not he can back this verbal claim he is making… with some sort some proof that indeed shows that this request was made before we escalate it to this level of conversation.”
Aside from this, in the Deputy Minister’s view, it would have been an oddity for his side of the transition team to insist on the previous government buying the vehicles because, “you would want to then come in and even make your own choices, even for security reasons, etc.”
Potential judgment debt
Documents sighted by Citi News revealed that the contract for the new cars for the Presidency was awarded by the Mahama government on the 3rd of January, 2017, to Amalgamated Security Services LTD.
However, the contract is in limbo following the recent moratorium placed on the purchase of new vehicles by President Akufo-Addo.
Checks by Citi News reveal that the said vehicles have already been purchased and are currently in Dubai and there are fears government could pay a judgement debt if it cancels the contract.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana