...Gov't Splashing On Rawlings 19 vehicles at his command plus unusual courtesies for an ex-President with no living predecessor

THE howls of the opposition NDC, the occasional 'booms' from former President Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings with their attendant media attention may have frozen the ruling NPP Government in its tracks and allowed still more unusual courtesies to be extended to the First family.

After the furore over the withdrawal of military bodyguards from his Ridge official residence, there is credible information corroborated by first grade intel reports that the former President alone has not two or three but as many as 19 vehicles at his beck and call. In addition he has five houses for his use at Ridge, a suburb of Accra.

Even as the public bay across the media landscape for the blood of MPs including the usually modest former Majority Leader, Hon. J.H Mensah,(JH is famous for his aversion for materialism and has no house in Accra), the former President who now spends more time travelling abroad has not received any 'harassing' inquiries from the authorities about the use of these vehicles.

Foreign Affairs sources who claim to be oblivious of the 'armada' of vehicles say that the Ministry has been bending over backwards to please the former President with almost frantic fervour recalling the events of last month when Rawlings along with thousands of others was stranded at the Canadian airport during the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States.

Speakeasy Victor Smith provoked national outcry, which later emerged to be a litany of false alarms- that the NPP Government had abandoned Rawlings and failed to take care of him.

Significantly, the Ghana High Commission in Canada is headed by a member of the intelligence fraternity and a Rawlings loyallist for the past 15 years- Mr. Oliver Laluwvi.

(Official letters from him show that the High Commission had indeed received clearance from Accra to immediately deploy assistance to the former President).

Concern is even growing within the ranks of the security agencies over the movement of these vehicles and how they are draining the scarce resources when they are not on any official mission.

The vehicles have been drawing huge amounts of fuel from the Castle fuel depot on a regular basis.

In two weeks one of the vehicles numbered GR 3388P had consumed 273 litres.

They are of various marques - Toyota, VW Passat, Ford Contour, Chevrolet, three Landcruisers and 2 Toyota Hiace vans.

Some of them bear the following registration numbers-GR 6808 Q, GW 6227 Q, GR 5888R, NR 129 C, GR 3377 P, GT 1402, GR 6808 Q, GR 5825etc

Chronicle learnt that the Castle Annex which houses officials of the National Security is severely handicapped in the area of vehicles.

Early this year, departing officials of the former Government sold several vehicles to themselves for ?700,000 to ?5million.

The Director in the Office of National Security, Mr. Allotey, was at post then and still remains at his desk as sources insist he was professional and non-partisan.

He could not be reached by press time last night to speak on the issue.

Another senior member of National Security acknowledged 'hearing something like that' but flatly declined to comment on record and refused to be quoted by name.

The depletion of the pool of vehicles at the NSC has exacerbated difficulties at the place, according to a low level officer who expressed real apprehension.

Fear is that efficiency may be compromised.

Even top officials at Director level have no vehicles and important assignments are carried out on foot and taxis by some operatives.

Strangely, even the usually vocal and seemingly tough National Security Adviser, General Joshua Hamidu, has been quiet over these concerns that are being raised within his own circles.

The question of who pays the drivers or operators of these vehicles could not be obtained, but the 24 guards that used to be part of Rawlings' security detail were all being paid by the state.

Ironically, Rawlings is not survived by any living Head of State.

His 'revolution' killed all of them, and the only survivor died during his tenure with scant attention to him and his family even during the period of constitutional rule.