AFTER A YEAR of intensive investigation by the new government, former President J.J Rawlings has finally and quietly surrendered seven shimmering vehicles which he unlawfully took away when he was leaving office.

As at the time Chronicle undercover investigators arrived at the executive car park of the Castle last week, Senior Intelligence and Security officers were thoroughly sweeping the vehicles to detect if there were any bugging devices hidden in any of the cars.

The officers were using a special device from the USA to carry out the bugging detection exercise.

Chronicle for the first time used its newly improved digital devices to take 20 shots of pictures of the cars without any recognition by the security officers, who were busy working on the cars.

Voice recordings captured by special devices were remarks by the security officers who said all but one of the batteries were dead.

"Chaley, all the batteries are dead. This means that the man wasn't even using the cars. They were just parked in the house. How can he use all these many cars," the officers said.

According to impeccable sources within government who confirmed the story, it was the body-guard of the ex-President, WO1 Kontoh, and his entourage who accompanied the said vehicles to the Castle gate where they were handed over to the government.

Chronicle Intelligence has, however, sighted internal memos which suggest that some of the cars were left for the ex-President and his family.

"We are wondering the number of state assets which the ex-President might have taken which we are not aware of. If we did not know about these cars he would have taken all of them," a source said.

Insiders told Chronicle undercover that the security services are still investigating the number of cars that ex-President Rawlings might have unlawfully sent away.

The source added that there are still lingering suspicion that the ex-President sent as many as 18 cars away.

No confirmation as to how they arrived at that figure was given to the Chronicle.

The source wondered what on earth the first family needed such a large number of cars for.

Insiders told the Chronicle yesterday that the ex-President should have handed over all those cars before he left office because the cars are state cars.

They added that the inability of Rawlings to surrender all the cars he unlawfully took from the Castle has made it difficult for government to officially allocate some to him.

"He should have handed over the cars so that official ones could be allocated to him. I understand as many as four cars were scheduled to be allocated to the ex-President. How can he alone have all these state cars sitting in his house," the source said.

According to Castle sources, Mr. Victor Smith, a special assistant to former President Rawlings is on record to have said that the ex-President is keeping "only 10 vehicles".

The sources challenged the moral grounds on which former government officials took away several state vehicles, saying "When former Vice-President Arkaah was leaving office he was not given anything, so why must someone alone be allowed to take away so many vehicles."

It was also observed that the ex-President sent home several items which he received as gifts on behalf the state.