As of July 1, all bullion vans will be armored, according to the Association of Bullion Operators

Alhaji Iddi Sumaila, the President of the Association of Bullion Operators Ghana (ABOG), has assured the public that no soft-skinned vehicles will be used to move money beginning on July 1, 2023.

In a Citi FM Eyewitness News interview, Alhaji Sumaila said that the group is dedicated to seeing that all banks in the nation use the 150 bullion vans that are available by the deadline.

The country has seen an increase in armed robbery attacks against bullion transporters, which led to the decision. The most recent assault took place on Thursday when four armed thieves attacked a bullion truck in Ablekuma, Accra, killing the police escort.

“From 1st July, I can assure the general public that no soft-skinned vehicles will be seen on our roads. We have been using the soft-skinned awaiting the deadline. It is actually a programme we are looking at holistically. So no soft-skinned vehicles will be on our roads.”

He further explained that this plan had been in progress prior to the recent incident and that significant strides had been made to ensure its implementation.

The agreement with the Bank of Ghana and other stakeholders was to transition away from soft-skinned vehicles starting in July.

“That has been the plan, it is not because of this issue. Progress has been made and that was the agreement with the Bank of Ghana and all other stakeholders that from July we will have to transition.”

Alhaji Sumaila emphasized that they are collaborating with all stakeholders to expedite the deployment of armoured bullion vans in order to prevent the loss of lives, particularly among police escorts.

“By 1st of July [2023], we will see banks using armoured vehicles/bullion vans. However, other banks have not finalised the agreement with us. We have about 150 bullion vans in the country. Most banks have signed contracts with us to deploy to them,” he said.