Eighty five (85)-years-old widow, Aunty Adom, whose car has been confiscated by Government officials at the Tema Port, is accusing officials in charge of confiscated vehicles of stealing.
She is therefore calling on the His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama to as a matter of urgency and compassion, come to her rescue by helping her get her car back.
The vehicle, a Ford E 350 Econoline Super Duty, was originally shipped in May 2015, from the United State by Dr. Emmanuel Arthur, her son, who is a surgeon resident in Florida U.S.A. to his older brother Ben Arthur, whose name was on the Bill of laden as the importer to enable him clear the vehicle for their aged mother.
In an interview with the aged woman, she said that she had been battling her health over the years so she requested for the car from her son abroad to help in her routine medical checkups at the hospital only to be told that her car had been confiscated at the Tema Harbour by some Government officials.
“It saddens my heart that at my age, someone could do this to me regardless of the fact that I can be his mother. If he doesn’t care about anything, he should at least care about my age and my health. I beg the President and his wife who I know are very compassionate to help me get my car because I am very troubled by the situation which you know is not good for my health and age”, she cried.
Speaking to the consignee, Ben Arthur, who is a son to the aged widow, he revealed that the car arrived at Tema Port at the end of June 2015 and he went to the port purposely to clear the vehicle on the 20th of August, 2015, but was told that the vehicle had been confiscated by one Razak Mohammed, chairman of the Confiscated Vehicle Committee, Osu Castle in Accra.
He said that the Custom Officials at the Tema Port gave him the contact number of Mr. Razak Mohammed but several efforts to reach him, through calls and text messages proved futile.
Upon investigations, Ben Arthur said it was revealed that a forged bill of the laden bearing the name of one George Agbeshie as importer of the vehicle had cleared the vehicle with the help of Medline Agency Limited and the support of Mr. Razak Mohammed, Chairman of Confiscated Vehicle Committee, Osu Castle.
“Finally, we were able to get Mr. Razak Mohammed through the help of a journalist at Radio Gold who arranged a meeting on the 7th November, 2015 at the Osu Castle between us and he (Razak) and there, Mr. Razak Mohammed disclosed that there were some individuals working under him who were carrying out the criminal activities. He promised to replace our vehicle in January, 2016 when the next confiscated vehicle is due for allocation. Present at the meeting were me (Ben Arthur), Francis Aryeequaye and Patrick, a reporter at Radio Gold”, he told the paper.
He hinted that all the processes, documents duly stamped by the Customs Service and import duties paid by the supposed bearer of the bill of laden, George Agbeshie, were all forged by the Ghana Customs Service at the Tema Port.
Ben Arthur added that the supposed Agbeshie, who is believed to have gone for the car at the port, was actually not the one but was just a staff at the National Security.
“We did not hear from Razak again and when we managed to get in touch with him again, he told my brother Dr. Emmanuel Arthur who called him on phone from the U.S.A that he was going to replace the car but was told him he didn’t need a replacement since that car was customized to serve a purpose. Since then, he has blocked my brother`s number”, he added.
Ben Arthur alleged that a prominent government official who was informed about the case went through the forged documents and promised to help get the perpetrators to return the vehicle but is has been four months and there seemed to be no sign of progress.
The 85- years- old widow and her sons are therefore calling on the President and the NDC government to help check the demeanor of Razak Mohammed and also get him to return the car in his possession.
Meanwhile, all effort to reach Razak Mohammed to respond to the allegation hit on a snag.
<<Print>>