'Was never contacted, heads will roll' – Kantanka CEO on not joining Wanderlust expedition

The Chief Executive Officer of Kantanka Automobile, Kwadwo Safo Jnr has refuted claims that his company refused to join the historic Accra to London road trip organised by a group of Ghanaians from Wanderlust Ghana. 

The Wanderlust Ghana team, a group of philanthropists and tourism enthusiasts, embarked on a 16-day journey from Accra to London travelling by road, a journey of about 10,000 kilometres.

On their arrival in London, the organisers of the trip released a statement indicating that their efforts to bring Kantanka on board proved futile as Mr. Safo refused to meet them.

The statement also suggested that they had wanted to promote made-in-Ghana brands but the Kantanka CEO turned down the offer.

The revelation by the travelers triggered a lot of backlash from Ghanaians, especially on social media, who believed the company had blown away a great opportunity to market their cars internationally.

Responding to the allegations on Monday, August 7, Mr. Safo noted that contrary to the earlier reports, he was never contacted by the group saying “was never contacted ooo. Hmmm! A few heads will roll since it’s a Monday. This is something I would have loved to be part of.”

The Wanderlust Ghana team

The common trip has always been stories of people travelling by road from Europe to Ghana, but this time around the tourism enthusiasts from Ghana did the reverse.

They started the expedition of driving from one continent to the other from Accra on Sunday [July 23, 2023] through Aburi, Nsawam, Kumasi, Sunyani to Dormaa and then entered Cote d'Ivoire via Gonokrom.

They were 12 people when they started the journey but one person dropped off in Senegal because of work related reasons and two others also dropped off in Morocco.

By Friday [August 4, 2023], they were at the outskirts of Monaco in Europe and were about to enter France, having moved through five African countries, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco and entered Europe by a ferry on the Mediterranean to Algeciras in Spain, before driving to Barcelona via Valencia. They spent three days in Morocco.

The group arrived in London on Sunday, August 6, 2023, after days of exploring nations and appreciating nature.

The Kantanka Automobile is a Ghana-based auto company that designs, manufactures, and assembles luxury cars. It was founded by Apostle Dr Ing. Kwadwo Safo in 1994.

Was never contacted ooo. Hmm. A few heads will roll since it’s a Monday. This is something I would have loved to be part of. 😞 😞 😔 😔

— Nana Kwadwo Safo Akofena (@kwadwosafo_Jnr) August 7, 2023