President of the Ghana Association of Bankers, John Awuah, has disclosed that banks in Ghana have made significant progress in acquiring armoured bullion vans for the transportation of money across the country.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Wednesday, he stated that, in compliance with previous admonitions by the Police, many indigenous banks in the country have rolled out measures to ensure the safety of persons who transport their monies in bullion vans.

According to him, despite the successes chalked, some hurdles at the Ministry of the Interior is affecting the operationalisation of the acquired armoured vans.

“I can say that we’ve made some progress from the perspective of the banks. Unfortunately, we need the Interior Ministry to fast track their processes and to enable them release the documentation that will enable banks bring in these vehicles. As we speak, some banks have armored vehicles parked at the TemaHarbour.

“They’re unable to clear them because the processes for getting these vehicles cleared at the Interior Ministry have almost stalled. We’re not making progress at the Ministry at the moment,” he stated.

Touching on the exact number of armoured bullion vans which have been procured, MrAwuah explained that, the purchases are not being done by the banks themselves, even though some banks have put together contingency plans.

“So the way the cash to transit process work, most of the banks do not undertake the process themselves. It’s an outsourced operation and so we have cash in transit companies. And you know in this particular incident, it was one of the companies, ‘Montran’, whose vehicle was involved in the incident.

So it is the companies, a lot of the instances, who are procuring the vehicles. But some banks have taken it upon themselves to procure some strategic stick or fleet of the vehicles. So in the unlikely event that there’s a mishap somewhere, their vehicles will step in to ensure seamless cash movement”, he explained.

He went ahead to clarify that despite the efforts by the banks, the Ministry of Interior is also concerned about the operationalisation of the purchased armoured vans, and this has led to a deadlock; a situation he describes as ‘unfortunate’.

The comments by Mr John Awuah was in reaction to a foiled bullion van attack which happened on Tuesday at the Industrial Area, in Accra.

Following the incident, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George AkufoDampare, has renewed calls for the use of armoured vehicles in the transport of bulk cash.

The attack at the Industrial Area in Accra left at least three persons with various degrees of injury who are currently on admission at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

In June last year, following four rampant attacks on bullion vans across the country, the Police Service cautioned banks regarding cash transportation.

Then IGP, James OppongBoanuh, directed banks to ensure that they procure fortified armoured vehicles to cart cash within the country.

He warned that the Service is ready to withdraw its regular escorts if the financial institutions fail to comply with the directive by the end of the month.

It seems not much has changed as the current IGP reiterates similar calls on the financial institutions as attacks on bullion vans rear its head.