The Administrator General, David Yaro says his outfit did not embark on any physical checks of the fleet of vehicles at the presidency during the transition period.
He said a list of about 678 vehicles that were supposed to be at the presidency was arrived at based on information provided by state agencies in the previous Mahama-led administration.
Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, the Administrator General who had complained about the lack of logistics during the transition period said he only worked with what was provided by heads of the various ministries.
In a response to whether he conducted an inventory of the information provided, Mr Yaro said “no we didn’t. We have made sure that these are captured in the handing over notes and the handing over notes were discussed with the incoming and outgoing ministers of state and they agreed.
“So as soon as you do that, it becomes the property of the state or agency in charge and it will now be their responsibility to look at the handing over notes vis a vis what is on the ground. We are not to do the physical check to be sure that what is being handed over to them is there before they sign,” he said.
The Director of Communication at the Presidency, revealed earlier this week that some 200 cars at the presidency had gone missing.
Eugene Arhin said President Akufo-Addo was compelled to use his own four-wheel drive for engagements outside Accra or a seven-year-old BMW salon car when he is in Accra.
The previous government has accused the Akufo-Addo administration of seeking to vilify them.
In a statement, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Johnny Osei Kofi, said Mr. Arhin’s claims were “ false, baseless and without merit”, adding that they represented a continuation of the “distortions and bad faith that have characterized the conduct of the NPP side of the Transition team.”
The statement also explained that, “as part of the transition process, both the Assets and Logistics Committee on the NPP side were given a detailed list of all vehicles in the pool at the Presidency. More importantly, a total of 641 vehicles were listed and properly accounted for. This was duly captured in the handing over notes.”
Following the controversy, office of the Administrator General released a list of vehicles that were handed over to the current government by the previous one.
The list comprised 142 Toyota Landcrusers, 8 Toyota Hiluxes, 32 Toyota Avalons, 2, Toyota Fortuners, as well as 58 Toyota Avensis vehicles. Mr Yaro said his office is not to embark on a physical assessment of the information provided and they have no way of confirming that the list of vehicles or do an audit.
“Our duty is just to build a data base of these properties and you can appreciate it that even looking at the challenges, it will impossible for us to go to every agency to count the number of vehicles available there. It will be next to impossible.”
He said the onus will lie on the appointees expected to use these vehicles to do an audit of the vehicles once they assume office.
“I have said it several times that it is just like building a house, you can fence it anyhow, but if a thief is determined to break in they will.
“So it is a human institution and one or two miscreants could decide for purposes known to them not to include some of them in the handing over notes. In that case it will be difficult for me to know.”
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