The Chamber of Automobile Dealership Ghana (CADEG) is lamenting the low patronage of used vehicles, following a recent raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the USA, and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in Ghana.

According to the General Secretary of the Chamber, George Dumenu, the raid has created mistrust between purchasers of used vehicles and their dealerships.

“Majority of these cars are actually not stolen as is been alleged. Is it possible that an authorised Ghanaian importer can outwit the inspector agencies of developed countries like US and Canada?”, he queried.

He pointed out that the checks and balances in developed countries are so strict and sophisticated to allow stolen vehicles slip through the system.

“The raid has had grave consequences for our business in the used auto dealership in Ghana by creating a huge mistrust between purchasers of used vehicles in our dealerships,” he stressed.

On December, 9 2022, EOCO in collaboration with the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a number of used auto dealerships and retrieved several imported luxury vehicles suspected to have been stolen from United States of America and Canada.

In view of this, the Chamber of Automobile Dealership Ghana held a stakeholder meeting with security agencies to get clarity on the foregoing to enable the chamber educate its members.

Mr. Dumenu stated that “we want to get clarity on the foregoing to enable CADEG educate its members, our customers and the general public. This we believe will avert such unfortunate incident which occurred on Friday December 9, 2022 from reoccurring. We want to call on stakeholders assembled here to use their good offices to save the situation before it gets out of hand. Indeed, our traders, through no fault of theirs, are only struggling to make a genuine living.”

Mr. Dumenu also used the opportunity to urge security agencies in USA and Canada to ensure due diligence is done before allowing shipment of used vehicles out of their jurisdiction.

“Our humble submission here is that the authorities in the USA and Canada, do proper due diligence before allowing shipment of used vehicles out of their jurisdiction,” he highlighted.

The vision of the Chamber of Automobile Dealership Ghana is to provide an all engaging leadership and strong advocacy to influence and enhance broader engagements with all stakeholders and government in formulating policies affecting the auto industry in Ghana.

Its mission is to create a level playing field through competitive platforms that delivers and sustain productive relations between members in the automobile industry, major stakeholders and government. This mechanism it believes will maintain a fair, strong competition and prosperity to build an attractive and resilient automobile industry in Ghana.