The Director of Transport and Logistics at the Presidency, Odeneho Nana Oppong has alleged that Mr Martin Amidu rejected the first Toyota Landcruiser vehicle that was handed over to his office from the Presidency when he was first appointed as the Special Prosecutor.

Mr Amidu’s reason, according to Nana Oppong was that, he preferred a black coloured vehicle instead of the ash coloured one which was handed over to him from the Presidency.

This, Nana Oppong said happened two weeks after Mr Amidu was sworn into office as Special Prosecutor.

He said Mr Amidu did not indicate his colour preference when President Akufo-Addo through the Chief of Staff directed that a brand new Landcruiser was to be handed over to him.

After he accepted the second brand new vehicle [black coloured Landcruiser], after three days, Mr Amidu called to complain that he had seen that one of the lights on the dashboard was on, and so he suspected that a gadget had deliberately been installed in the vehicle to monitor his movements and record his conversations, Nana Oppong said.

Nana Oppong said when the vehicle was returned and they checked it, they realized that it was the tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) [warning light] which was on because the air pressure in one of the tyres was low.

This, he said had happened because the vehicle had been parked for sometime before it was handed over to Mr Amidu and so they suspected the pressure in the tyres had gone low and so they decided to increase the tyre pressure afterwards and the warning light went off.

Even with that, he said Mr Amidu insisted he was not going to accept the vehicle until it was changed.

Nana Oppong said this in a radio interview with Kumasi based Kessben FM, monitored by Graphic Online on Thursday morning [November 19, 2020].

Tyre pressure warning sign

Many new cars are equipped with a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that is designed to keep track of the air-pressure inside the tyres.

The warning sign looks like a horseshoe with an exclamation mark in it.

If the light illuminates and stays on, it means at least one of the tyres is at a low pressure level. When the pressure in the tyre is increased with an air pump to the right level, the light automatically goes off.

Mr Amidu resigned his position as Special Prosecutor on Monday, November 16, 2020 and cited interference in his work by the government and denial of resources to enable his office to function appropriately among others as his reasons for resigning.

He said Mr Amidu insisted that was an indication that a recording device had been installed in the vehicle and so he was rejecting it.

Nana Oppong explained that they went for the vehicle and after the tyre pressure was slightly increased, the warning light went off but Mr Amidu insisted he wanted the vehicle changed completely.

He said the Chief of Staff was informed and a new Landcruiser was handed over to Mr Amidu.

After three months, he again requested that he needed a pick-up vehicle for administration purposes, which was also provided in addition to a saloon vehicle which was provided to him after a month.

Nana Oppong said that after using the Landcruiser for about four months, Mr Amidu complained that the brakes were not working properly and that he had to press hard before the vehicle was able to stop.

He said the vehicle was taken to GHAMOT [Toyota Ghana Limited] and the brake pads were changed since it had worn out.

When the vehicle was returned to Mr Amidu, he reportedly insisted if he did not see the old brake pads, which they claimed to have changed, he was not going to accept it.

And so the vehicle was parked at the Jubilee House for 10 days before they went to Toyota Ghana to pick the old brake pads to show to Mr Amidu before he accepted to use the vehicle.