On November 14, 2007, a man identified as Thomas Osei, crashed into former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s vehicle at the Opeibea House traffic light intersection in Accra. He was believed to have been under the influence of alcohol and on further investigations traces of narcotics were found in his urine.

The president escaped unhurt from the accident.

There have been other instances where presidential convoys were involved in accidents. On, October 30, 2000, then President Jerry John Rawlings’ convoy was involved in an accident on the Tema motorway killing 4 of his bodyguards.

In February 2019, Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia escaped unhurt in an accident at Asemasa near Beposo on the Takoradi - Cape Coast highway, unfortunately the commercial driver who was involved in the accident died.

Read the full story originally published on November 18, 2016, on Ghanaweb

Intelligence gathered by the Enquirer indicates that President John Agyekum Kufuor bears a grudge with the man who was involved in the near fatal accident which sent the President's reinforced Mercedes tumbling over several times.

According to The Enquirer’s deep throat, the man used to be a very close friend of the President until a misunderstanding ensued following the man's role in a domestic scandal in the President's house forcing the President to ban him from coming to his house four years ago.

But investigators of last Wednesday’s accident have hinted The Enquirer that so far evidence points to the fact that the collision was simply an accident and not a premeditated one. The driver is said to have a record of reckless driving and already has a couple of reported cases of dangerous driving dotted around police stations in Accra. Sources also said at the time the driver collided with the President's car, his side of the traffic had indicated green and the driver might have suspected that the President's convoy had already passed.

Meanwhile, further intelligence emanating from the accident suggests that the man who used to be a very close friend of the President is alleged to be a cocaine abuser. Sources told The Enquirer that even though there was initial speculation that the man was reeking of alcohol, sources say he was driving under the influence of cocaine he snuffed a day before and three bottles of beer he gulped that morning from the Landing Restaurant at the airport. Insiders have confirmed to The Enquirer that the driver allegedly admitted driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol after he was confronted with results of a blood test which indicated that there were residues of cocaine and alcohol in his blood.

The man, a Gonja man who reportedly spots an Ashanti name has been identified as a returnee contractor from Japan. He is said to be a sub-contractor for the Accra - Cape Coast Road supported by a Japanese grant. A controversy which arose soon after the accident questioned why the police officers at the scene neglected the President and rather chose to attack the driver who was involved in the accident with the President's convoy has been explained. According to sources, even though they were aware of guidelines' regarding protecting the President in such emergency situations, they focused on the driver because on the spur of the moment they did not know whether it was a deliberate attack or whether also the person was armed or not.

In that case, they wanted to disarm the attacker as they kept an eye on the President's situation. The insiders also explained that it is unfortunate that sections of the media and the public have blamed the security men for leaving the rescue of the President to ordinary civilians and explained that under normal circumstances, anybody who approached the President in that situation should have been shot, but looking at the situation, they had no reason to believe that the civilians wanted to harm the President. They said they believed it was a genuine effort of ordinary Ghanaians committed to rescuing and giving their President a helping hand.