Akufo Addo's cars seized

14 containers laden with 24 cars and other valuable items worth a staggering $163,000 imported from South Korea have been seized at the Tema Port since 2010.

The goods have been confiscated for the last three years because some unseen people suspect the owner of the goods is a relative of the 2012 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The owner of the seized goods, Dominic Akufo-Addo, a Kumasi-based businessman, revealed that the goods were seized because he and the NPP flagbearer bear the same surname.

Other items in the containers include 420 laptops, 750 pieces of sound systems, 1800 pieces of used mattresses and 1,000 used tyres.

The distraught businessman, a native of Agona Abodom in the Central region, had exhausted all avenues to retrieve his goods.

In a desperate attempt to obtain his goods, Mr. Akufo-Addo said he obtained an National Democratic Congress (NDC) card and sought the assistance of the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

The businessman said the continuous seizure of his goods at the port had collapsed his business.

He said he had failed to pay his children’s school fees, adding that he currently depends on his friends and loved ones for survival.

Speaking to Ali Baba on Kessben FM’s Breaking News programme, Mr. Akufo-Addo said he recently appealed to a certain NDC man who claims to be very close to President Mahama to help him clear the goods.

“The NDC man told me in plain language that my goods have been seized at the port because they suspect I am related to Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP.”

But Dominic Akufo-Addo insists he is not related to Nana Akufo-Addo.

“So what is wrong if you bear the same name with a top politician in this country?”

Explaining further, the businessman said he imported goods from South Korea worth $163,000 and made part payment of $100,000, with a promise to pay the remaining amount in 90 days’ time to his business partner in Korea.

Upon arrival in the country, he said, he engaged the services of an agent to help him clear the goods from the port.

One day the agent called to tell me that there was a problem with his goods. I was later told that the government had banned the importation of used mattresses, he indicated.

Akufo Addo said initially he did not suspect any foul play until the said NDC man, who claims to be very close to the Presidency, informed him about the current happenings.

He said he had expended all his money to travel from Kumasi to Accra on countless occasions over the last three years.

Akufo Addo rubbished any association with a political party in the country.