Castle Sells Car For "peanuts"

OVER FOUR hundred (400) vehicles have been virtually taken away from the Tema Port for free as National Democratic Congress (NDC) operatives abuse a loose chit system at the facility, using the name of the Presidency or the National Security Council to ferry confiscated cars away.

The various car parks at the harbour such as the Golden Jubilee Terminal, Safebond and Transit Terminal, where these cars are parked are inundated with NDC activists who storm the places with chits for allocation of cars at very ridiculous prices.

Documents available to DAILY GUIDE show that some of the cars are sold at 50GP or ¢5,000 old Ghana cedis under the guise of using them for National Security operations. But these cars have found their way into private hands.

The documents point at a growing trend of causing financial loss to the state even though the deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Alex Segbefia had denied the ‘stealing’ of cars by NDC activists.

A Ford Explorer with Chassis no. 1FMZU35P3WZB66175 was registered GT 8541-09 and given out to a party functionary after the payment of a flimsy GH50p under the pretext of using it for operations.

As there are no ways of checking the veracity of such permits, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) personnel can only nod in approval for the party persons to do their own thing whenever they arrive to take away cars.

Collaborating with the party persons is an active second-hand dealership in Accra, which the cartel operating from the Castel sells the cars to.

No standard public auction for confiscated vehicles has been conducted since President John Evans Atta Mills assumed power, paving the way for the chit system to blossom to the advantage of NDC loyalists.

These are halcyon days for the party supporters who are abusing the somewhat loose system to undertake their activities.

The standard practice, as regards confiscated vehicles, was for these to be auctioned to the public.

The prices for which such vehicles were sold included the duty element so that the state did not lose out.

However, where the cars are not given out for free, the duties are slashed to an incredible level.

Vehicles are confiscated to the state when the importer is unable to meet his duty obligation to the state within 60 days, with option for extension and payment of penalties. But the extension period has been cancelled since this government assumed power, with car owners wailing on a daily basis as their cars are being taken away by NDC gangs.

A number of cases, mostly muffled, point to a growing incidence of simply taking away confiscated vehicles from the harbour in the name of the ruling party.

One of such cases took place at the Kumasi Police Training School where a 270 Mercedes Benz, whose auction a court had ordered, was said to be taken to the Castle Car Pool, but found it ways to a private garage at Sakaman in Accra.

Another document indicates that a used Chrysler Pacifica Wagon with the year of manufacture being 2007 and CEPS reference number 09081300011TNTOB102, was sold for a ridiculous GH50p (fifty Ghana pesewas).

The witness to one of the deals was a certain Ayishetu Adam, with the value of the vehicle and other taxes going for GH¢1,453.55.

The letter supporting the deal is headed, ‘Allocation Of Vehicle by the Statutory Vehicles Allocation Committee, Accra’.

A portion of the correspondence giving the approval reads, “I have the pleasure to inform you that you have been allocated a forfeited vehicle with the following particulars:…….”

A certain Carl Wilson who is chairman of the committee responsible for the disposal of forfeited vehicles has been cited in a number of misdemeanours of late.

One involved his use of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings’ name to confiscate a Chrysler, although the man has denied ordering Wilson on such a mission.

Another telltale correspondence cited by DAILY GUIDE is headed, “Re: Allocation Of Vehicles To National Security Council”.

The correspondence for the attention of a certain E.S. Ackwerh and signed by the said Carl Wilson has a portion which reads, “We forward the attached list of vehicles allocated from the Golden Jubilee Annex (UCL) Tema and the Takoradi Port Car Parks for your perusal and necessary action”.

The correspondence, dated November 25th 2009, was copied the Hon Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and the Chairman of Revenue Agencies Governing Board.

Some beneficiaries, as contained in the list for collection at the Takoradi Port and accompanying the correspondence, are as follows:

Benz Bus Red Container Cargo, Chasis No. VSA63134213042514 allocated to a certain Sule, and a Citroen to Daniel.

Following a bad press the government attracted over the allocation of cars, one of the deputy Ministers of Information, James Agyenin-Boateng, led journalists to the State House where he spoke about government commitment to stemming the incidence of stolen cars being brought to Ghana.

The State House is the repository of cars suspected to have been stolen from abroad and the trip was seen as a ploy to divert attention from the dirty deals at the Jubilee and other car parks.

Vehicles continue to maintain a centre stage in the Mills’ government, with state functionaries taking an inordinate interest in having access to state cars by all means.

Such manouvres have had some of these persons suffer bruises in law courts. The former head of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is the latest to win a case after the vehicle he bought from the government agency when he was leaving was seized by state operatives. The Attorney General’s Department, which described the ownership change as breaching the law, was thrown out of court, which ordered that the vehicle be returned to the owner.

The inception of the new government was characterized by a craze for car seizures, most of which were bungled, including one in which the private car of the Barclays Bank Managing Director was mistaken for a wanted car and seized.

By the time it was released with an apology note, the embarrassment had already sunk in.

With President Mills’ directives to ministers and other government appointees to open their doors to party operatives, the forfeited cars terminal will remain an important source of pleasing sulking foot soldiers of the NDC. These are rosy days indeed, and who can dispute it as evidenced by the ownership of four such vehicles by a special assistant to the deputy Chief of Staff.