Missing cars: Blame transition process – Osae

The current controversy regarding the alleged 208 missing state cars has arisen due to loopholes in the transition process, Dr Eric Oduro Osae, a local governance expert, has said.

There is currently a back-and-forth between the Akufo-Addo government and the erstwhile Mahama administration concerning the number of state vehicles left at the presidency after the president’s press secretary Eugene Arhin revealed that 208 state cars were missing.

The former government subsequently released a statement on Thursday saying it left behind 641 cars and dared the new government to point out the alleged missing ones.

Speaking on TV3 on Saturday February 11, Dr Osae said: “I am also expecting the leadership of the transition team of the outgone administration to also be very proactive and then whip their members that, ‘Look we are handing over, and we have handed over 641 vehicles to them. If any are in your possession we are giving you maybe a week to submit them.’”

“Then you inform the other person at the other side of the transition team that, ‘if they fail to make it available please let us know, we are prepared to facilitate the process so that we can have a smooth transition’. But all these things are happening because there were loose ends as they were ending the transition.

He suggested: “Going forward they can involve operational procedure, we can also develop a legislative instrument that would as it were add value or flesh to some of the grey areas in the transition.”