The scandal over missing vehicles at the presidency is getting murkier by the minute with a former presidential staffer suggesting the allegation is nothing more than a ploy by the new government to buy brand new luxurious vehicles for use at the presidency.
Clement Apaak insists the claim of a missing 200 vehicles is contrived, disingenuous and a plot by the NPP government to make former government officials look bad in the eyes of right thinking members of the public.
Speaking to Joy News, Apaak said the presidency is not a “wayside mechanic shop where vehicles can go missing.”
He said the missing 200 vehicles is a “claim that cannot be substantiated.”
His comments are in reaction to Director of Communications at the presidency Eugene Arhin who stirred the hornets’ nest with a revelation of a 200 missing state vehicles at the presidency.
He said so bad is the situation that the president has had to use his own private vehicle for some official duties.
But that revelation has been challenged by officials of the past government. Clement Apaak wondered how a party that used these cars during the handing over ceremony at the Independent Square will turn around and claim that 200 vehicles are missing.
According to him, a comprehensive inventory was taken on all the vehicles at the presidency and the handing over was done.
He did not understand how several weeks later, the NPP will then turn around to allege that cars are missing.
Apaak said if the government is minded, it would have checked from the transport department office at the presidency before coming out with the contrived information.
“We have known that efforts will be made to vilify us and accused for not acting in the best interest of the country.
“It is just an attempt to justify the importation of a new fleet of vehicles,” he suggested, adding, “we don’t have to prove anything.”
However, the Administrator General David Yaro, who is mandated to oversee state properties, said if it is the case that 200 state vehicles at the presidency are missing then the former Chief of Staff Julius Debrah or the Chief Director at the presidency must be held responsible.
According to him, his office conducted an inventory of all the vehicles at the presidency and a total of 678 were recorded.
He therefore found it intriguing that 200 vehicles will be said to be missing.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Johny Osei Kofi has issued a statement debunking the claims that 200 vehicles are missing.
He stated in a statement that a total of 648 vehicles were left at the presidency and cannot be the case that 200 vehicles will be said to be missing.
If the figures by the Administrator General and that of the Deputy Chief of Staff are anything to go by, a total of 30 vehicles cannot be accounted for.
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