State Security raids Baba Kamara’s residence

The aL-hAJJ can confirm today that a team of security operatives including Police personnel and officials from Economic and Organized Crime Office last week stormed the Accra and Salaga residences of former National Security Advisor, Alhaji Baba Kamara in search of missing state vehicles.

Sources close to the former National Security Advisor told this paper that “some plain cloth men who identified themselves as personnel from EOCO together with some policemen came to old man’s (Baba Kamara’s) house. They claimed they were reliably informed that the “old man” was keeping state vehicles. They came here (Accra residence) and later went to his house in Salaga in search of missing cars.”

According to a source in Salaga, the officials, who were led by one Inspector Adjei, left disappointed as they could not get what they wanted. “After searching the house thoroughly, they couldn’t find the cars they were looking for so they left disappointed. One of them chucked in disappointment. ”

The source added: “I’m told another team also visited his residence in Accra just about the same time they were here...but there too, I understand they couldn’t find what they were looking for.”

The aL-hAJJ has gathered that the raid on the former National Security Advisor’s residences was sanctioned by the present National Security Minister following revelation on a leaked secret tape recording with a voice believed to be that of immediate past NDC MP for Salaga South, Alhaji Ibrahim Dey Abubakar that Alhaji Baba Kamara was unlawfully keeping some alleged missing state vehicles at his residence.

The defeated NDC MP, who has accused Ghana’s former Ambassador to Nigeria of plotting his exit from the legislative house, was heard on the alleged secret tape claiming that Alhaji Baba Kamara had a number of the missing state vehicles in his residence.

In the secret tape recording, Alhaji Dey is heard speaking to another supposed executive of the NDC, where he describes Baba Kamara as greedy, further accusing him of stealing money during his time as a treasurer to Dr Obed Asamoah and hoarding campaign funds donated to the biggest opposition party.

"If this change didn’t come they wouldn’t know how life is. When we don’t expose him this way, he would still live another day and come and fight. Such a stupid character… I don’t even know how he managed to get there. And Alhaji Osman; tell them (BNI), they should go to his house for the cars. He always goes to where he gets money; he (Baba Kamara) was deputy treasurer to Obed Asamoah.

This supposed revelation by the former NDC MP, sources told The aL-hAJJ¸ prompted the National Security Minister to sanction the raid on Alhaji Baba Kamara’s two houses.

The Akufo-Addo government, since taking office, has been complaining of missing state vehicles, forcing NPP vigilante groups and officials of National Security to raid homes of some officials of the erstwhile NDC government suspected to be keeping some of the vehicles.

However, all vehicles seized from such members, mostly in a Rambo style, have since been returned to its owners as government’s own investigations later proved the vehicles were not state vehicles as speculated.

Last week, Chairman of the Executive Assets Sub-committee of government’s side of the Transition Team, Mr Ayikoi Otoo, said a total of 234 vehicles still need to be accounted for in the list of vehicles inherited from the previous government by President Akufo-Addo’s administration.

This was after Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, had indicated in January that the government had detected that 208 cars remained unaccounted for, which became a contentious issue between officials of the former administration and the current one.

The government has since set up a task force with the mandate of retrieving state assets unlawfully being kept by individuals, but the committee is yet to retrieve any of the supposed missing state vehicles.