‘Ghaddafi Donated Benz To State Not Kufuor’ – Hackman Owusu-Agyemang

A former Foreign Affairs Minister has condemned what he says is the poor attempt at equalization of President John Mahama’s controversial gift and a car the NPP government received from the Libyan government.

Hackman Owusu-Agyeman told Joy News the former Libyan president Col. Muammar Al-Ghaddafi gave the bullet-proof Mercedes-Benz to Ghana after a ‘state to state negotiation.’Pres ident John Dramani Mahama was cited in an investigative piece by Joy News’ Manasseh Awuni-Azure as the receiver of a Ford Expedition car from a Burkinabe contractor.

The government has admitted that President Mahama was given the vehicle but it was added to the fleet of cars at the presidency.

The National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress, Kofi Adams in a vehement defence of the president’s conduct, cited the car the Kufuor administration received from Mr Ghaddafi as yet another example of gift received by a Ghanaian leader.

“Every head of state we’ve had in this country has been given one gift or the other. Some have used it for private purposes, others have done the right thing and used it for state purposes,” Mr Adams said on the Super Morning Show, Friday.

But Mr Owusu-Agyeman, who was the Foreign Minister at the time the bullet-proof vehicle was given to Ghana said the vehicle was given to Ghana after he went to Libya to request for it.

“This was an official request in the context of state to state security, presidency to presidency security and this one was given to Ghana for the presidency,” he emphatically said.

He asserted that the vehicle was not given as a gift to the then President Kufuor but to the state.

Source: Joy News