A former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Mr. Stephen Amoah, has claimed that 96% of the imported cars are in use, while only 12 faulty ones have been parked at the National Security car park.

According to him, the vehicles were moved to the present location due to lack of space at the head office and for security reasons.

He further explained that “as of now and per my checks, we have only 12 of the small cars on the premises of the National Security as a result of a factory defect; they had problems with their engines.”

Speaking on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu, the Nhyiaeso legislator in response to whether the vehicles were parked at the national security installation or the car park of the national security office, explained that, “I can’t provide security details of that.”

He however said that “for the security and protection of the vehicles, we [MASLOC] had the opportunity to use the park of the national security, and they have their own rules.”

Mr. Stephen Amoah clarified that the GPRTU had rejected the vehicles over claims that the prices were “too outrageous so they could not use them. The cars that they [GPRTU] agreed to be procured, were not the [same imported] cars in terms of quality, durability, and functional life so they decided not to take the cars.”

This explanation was ignited by the recent harassment of two Broadcast Journalists of Citi FM/Citi TV, Caleb Kudah and Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, over a phone video capturing some abandoned cars at the National Security office.

Recounting his story, Caleb Kudah explained that he was capturing evidence to support his claim that the imported vehicles by MASLOC were wasting away at the National Security premises.

Arrest and interrogation
Police officers on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, arrested Caleb Kudah, a broadcast journalist with Citi FM and Citi TV.

According to the police, he was arrested for filming at the premises of the National Security Ministry, a supposed restricted security zone.

About seven heavily armed officers subsequently stormed the premises of Citi FM/Citi TV in an attempt to arrest, Zoe Abu-Baidoo, another broadcast journalist with the respected media house, whom they claimed had received files from Caleb Kudah.

In an attempt to arrest Zoe after tagging her as Caleb Kudah’s accomplice, the heavily armed officers besieged the premises of Citi FM/Citi TV in three different vehicles.

While at the premises, the officers tried to overpower Zoe, who at the time was standing at the company’s car park.

Zoe Abu-Baidoo subsequently bolted and reported the issue to her superiors after sensing danger because some of the officers tried to capture her. The incident shocked the staff who had come out in their numbers to catch a glimpse of it.

Management of Citi FM headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Attah-Mensah, who was present at the time of the incident, intervened and together with Zoe and other managers of Citi FM/Citi TV, followed the officers to the National Security Ministry.

They returned with Zoe Abu-Baidoo, while Caleb Kudah was interrogated for a while longer before his release later.