Jubilee House, Finance Ministry And GRA Allegedly Share Confiscated Cargos At The Ports

• A leading member of the Importers and Exporters Association Ghana has alleged that corrupt state officials share confiscated cargoes at the ports
• Samson Awingobit, Executive Secretary of the Association has said officials at the Jubilee House, finance ministry and the Ghana Revenue Authority are most guilty of the illegality
• The experienced importer and exporter told XYZ TV that the corrupt practice persists under both NDC and NPP governments

Corrupt state officials at the Presidency, the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority have been accused of masterminding a scheme that enables them acquire confiscated cargo at the ports.

A ranking member of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Samson Awingobit, has disclosed that the corrupt scheme is very elaborate and has even become more of a syndicate.

The Executive Secretary of the association made the revelation on XYZ TV recently. He said the practice goes on under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments.

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How The State Officials Illegally Acquire Confiscated Goods

Samson Awingobit, who has many years of experience as an importer and exporter, said that anytime cargoes are confiscated at Ghana's ports, this syndicate of corrupt government officials send their men to pay the needed taxes to get the goods cleared.

Shortly after the goods are confiscated, the system will show that someone from either the presidency or finance ministry has already acquired them, he said.

Vehicles, reefer containers containing canned tomatoes, cooking oil and other general cargo items are not spared by the syndicate.

"Someone has brought his frozen food, his tomatoes, cooking oil, and because it has spent 21 days, sometimes less, you will auction it. When you go into the system you will realise that the Jubilee House has a hand in it, the finance minister's office has a hand in it, and the commissioner general's office has a hand in it," he lamented.

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Mr Awingobit said the corrupt scheme goes so high in government that sometimes deputy ministers sign letters directing customs officers to release particular goods or cargoes.

Special Prosecutor Hunts Down Customs Division; Investigates Vehicle Auctions From July 2016 To Date

In a separate story, YEN.com.gh reported that the woes of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are deepening by the day. This comes after a full-scale probe of all vehicle auctions at Customs by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The OSP, as part of measures to make corruption unattractive in the country, initiated investigations into the conduct of some government agencies, which revealed corrupt acts involving Labianca and some Customs officials.

The Office cited a Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations, Joseph Adu Kyei, for issuing an unlawful customs advance ruling. The report also added that the owner of Labianca, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, had taken advantage of her position as a member of the Council of State and Board member of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) at the time to get favours.

Source: YEN.com.gh