WHEN REVEREND Dr. Prince Kudolo decided to buy a four-wheel cross country car, little did he suspect that his cherished dream would soon turn into a nightmare made in hell.
The Chronicle newspaper learnt that late last year, in pursuit of his dream, he sighted a Toyota Land Cruiser for sale at a second hand dealer?s garage in Kumasi and finding it to his taste, bargained with the dealer, one Alhaji Moro Mohammed.
The two parties agreed on a price of $38,000 and Rev. Kudolo promptly paid $30,000. The balance was to be paid when the car was brought from Kumasi to Accra.
Investigations by The Chronicle show that the car arrived in Accra and Rev. Kudolo, armed with the Customs Form C59, which allowed the importation of the car from Nigeria, decided to check its authenticity and proceeded to Customs and Excise office at Jamestown, Accra.
It was duly confirmed to be a genuine article. He also went to Ghamot, official Toyota dealers and it was valued at $45,000 and also confirmed as a 2000 model.
It was gathered that after paying the duty amounting to almost ?100,000,000, the pastor?s next stop was the Vehicle Examination and Licensing Department for the appropriate license plates and other documentation.
According to Rev. Kudolo, who is also the the General-Overseer of ?Go Ye HARGVEST Mission? in Accra, from nowhere police from Interpol division seized the car, claiming that the man who had brought in the vehicle from Nigeria, Alhaji Ganiyu Kolade, had made a complaint that he had not authorized the second-hand car dealer, Alhaji Moro, to sell the vehicle.
Dr. Kudolo followed the police to the Interpol office at Police Headquarters where he met the two Alhajis and the Chief Superintendent in charge, CSP P.K. Agblorh, at his office. At the end of it all, he was advised to take back his money and let go of the car.
Rev. Kudolo told The Chronicle that he felt short-changed by this and decided that after paying for a car offered for sale on the open market, there was no justification for what was being done to him.
He then advised his lawyers and they sued the IGP and the Attorney-General for wrongful seizure of his property. The suit was heard before Justice J. Akwaah at the High Court.
After hearing the case, the judge ruled in Rev. Kudolo?s favour and made an order on April 23, this year that the vehicle should be given back to him.
Based on the court ruling, the police administration wrote to CSP Ablorh, ordering him to comply, but he refused.
Then out of the blue, Ablorh said the vehicle was on the Interpol black list and was stolen from Japan. He, therefore, charged Rev. Kudolo for dishonestly receiving and using forged documents to license the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Alhaji Ganiyu Kolade who brought the vehicle into the country and ostensibly should have been arrested as a thief, had been allowed to leave the country by CSP Agblorh.
To add insult to injury, CSP Agblorh caused a publication in the dailies to the effect that Rev. Kudolo had been arrested and charged to court.
The case is due to be heard on 16 July 2004.
