The Herald, has obtained rare images of the five bulletproof Toyota Land Cruisers, discreetly acquired and taken home by former high-ranking Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) officers, as part of their end-of-service benefits.
Messrs Ramelsco Company Ltd, supplied the five armoured Toyota Land Cruiser 300 GXR vehicles, procured from Dubai for US$1.3 million under controversial circumstances.
The vehicles, included an extra bulletproof car, which many have suggested was a kickback from the supplier to one of the officers. Strangely, that particular vehicle, has not been retrieved.
Instead of receiving the standard pick-ups and saloon cars typically issued as retirement packages, the former military chiefs, opted for bulletproof Land Cruisers, prioritising personal comfort at a time when rank-and-file soldiers faced challenges, such as inadequate accommodation, food shortages, insufficient weapons, ageing combat vehicles, and other logistical constraints crucial to national security.
The vehicles, were retrieved, following a directive by President John Dramani Mahama, Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, after The Herald exposed the irregular nature of the procurement and how the vehicles were distributed among the retired senior officers.
The five vehicles—bearing registration numbers CR 1580-24, ES 1701-24, ES 1702-24, ES 1703-24, and UW 325-24—are now parked at Burma Camp in Accra, pending further instructions. They are currently in the custody of the Defence Procurement Wing (PR&D) of the GAF.
The former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, along with four other former Service Chiefs, namely Vice Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu (retired Chief of Naval Staff), Lieutenant General Bismarck Kwasi Onwona (retired Chief of Army Staff), Air Marshal Frederick Asare Kwasi Bekoe (retired Chief of Air Staff), and Lieutenant General Joseph Prince Osei Owusu (retired Chief of Staff) were all directed to return the vehicles after it emerged that they had been acquired without proper governmental authorisation.
Interestingly, General Oppong-Peprah remains in possession of a black 2023 Lexus LX 600, with chassis number JTJPB7CX2P4023225 and is also believed to have been acquired under the same deal.
Unlike the army green in which the Land Cruisers originally arrived, all vehicles were reportedly resprayed black after delivery.
Sources indicate that the retired officers justified the procurement by citing a recent attack on a Nigerian Brigadier General and arguing that bulletproof vehicles were necessary for their personal safety.
However, existing regulations stipulate that retired Service Chiefs are entitled only to a saloon car and a pick-up, not high-end bulletproof SUVs. Previous CDSs did not benefit from such provisions.
While the retired officers claimed that the Armed Forces Council had approved the purchase, investigations suggest otherwise. No formal approval was granted, and the procurement process was fraught with irregularities, including significant overpricing.
Military procurement records show that each Land Cruiser was priced at US$285,000, although customs documentation lists the import value at just US$160,000 per vehicle.
Six vehicles were cleared in the name of the Ghana Armed Forces, but only five were officially registered as military assets. The Lexus, which had its customs duties reportedly paid privately by General Oppong-Peprah, raises further questions about its classification and the actual intentions behind the procurement.
A letter dated March 21, 2025, signed by Brigadier General E.K. Commey, attempted to clarify the discrepancies. The letter, “Correction to Inspection and Monitoring Report Order for Armoured Toyota Land Cruiser 300 GXR for the Ghana Armed Forces,” acknowledged the erroneous use of an outdated procurement order form during inspection procedures.
It stated: “This Department apologises for the inadvertent use of a wrong Procurement Order Form (DFB 1997) for the conduct of inspection of the five (5) Armoured Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles supplied. The specifications quoted conform with the vehicles supplied.”
Despite this explanation, Brigadier General Commey, was not part of the original inspection team, and it remains unclear, whether a second inspection was officially authorised following The Herald’s report.
The incident, from the unauthorised procurement and inflated pricing to the attempted retention of the vehicles by retired officers, has sparked renewed calls for accountability and transparency within the military, which was saddled with strange procurements under the previous government.