In a statement signed and released by the Deputy Chief of Staff under the Mahama-led-administration, Johnny Osei Kofi on Thursday said the vehicles handed over to the government included 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,” the statement said.

Mr Osei Kofi’s statement comes in the wake of controversies surrounding the number of vehicles available for use at the presidency.

The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, on Wednesday revealed that some 208 cars from the Flagstaff House’s vehicle pool could not be accounted; a claim Mr Osei Kofi has described as “false, baseless without merit.”

In his statement, Mr Osei Kofi gave a breakdown of the vehicle type and model and the number that was captured in the handing over notes.

Below is 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;

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