STINKY DEALS At Ghana Shippers Authority

The Tema District branch of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) has decried the continuous silence of the ruling NDC government over what it describes as massive corruption being perpetuated by senior officers of the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA).

The GIFF could not understand why the central government persistently failed to set up committees of enquiry to commission full-scale investigations into the ‘fraudulent practices of officers of GSA though, it contended it had reported the matter to government.

Addressing a charged press conference in Tema at the weekend, the Tema District Chairman of GIFF, Mr. Jonathan Amanor, accused GSA of ‘secretly’ milking the coffers of the Authority.

He pointed out that if the central government did not institute measures to halt the corrupt practices of GSA, the Authority could collapse soon.

He noted that the “chop chop” of the senior officers of the Authority can be linked to the animal farm situation where all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

“It is pathetic that we those who do the work and end-up making so much for the Authority are treated by the Authority like slaves,” he lamented.

He alleged that senior officers of the Authority operate a system where they wrongly levy GIFF huge sums of money and which they share among themselves.

“The facts in support of this proposition are not farfetched- under the Ghana Shippers Authority law, the authority acquires the power to levy $2 per ton and GH¢5.00 per entry on every document except personal effects processed through Ghana- Customs and Preventive Service (CEPS).

HE recounted that in 2010 alone, the GSA realised a total amount of $15.8 million based on a total cargo volume of 7.9 million tons.

This money, according to him, does not include monies realized from the 5 cedis per declaration charged by the GSA.

Mr. Amanor however dared the top officials of the Authority to come up clear on those who benefited from these monies.

He described as untrue the GSA claims that the said money is supposed to be used to further the interest of shippers.

He explained that the “most naïve shipper whether importer and exporter will not need to stretch his imagination to point to the coatless problems they confront in doing shipping at the ports of Ghana of which “we argued the answer of the GSA does not  lie in the proposed shippers regulation.

He noted that under the proposed shipping regulations of the Shippers Authority, they have given themselves the power to negotiate charges on behalf of shippers; they justify this on the basis that freight forwarders and other shipping service providers cheat the shipper except they

“the GSA.”

He added that in “line with their own reasoning, one would have expected a high level of accountability from the GSA but that is not the case.

“As I speak, not even one audited accounts of the Ghana Shippers Authority has been disclosed to the Shipping Public- the vey group that finalise their activities,” he asserted.

On duplication of functions, Mr. Amanor called for immediate dissolution of either Ghana Shippers Authority or Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) on the grounds that the two state marine authorities preformed same functions.

“It is our honest opinion that the GSA must go since as observed its main objective as articulated in its parent law is to serve the interest of shippers. By serving the interest of shippers, it cannot be said to be neutral in its dealings with other stakeholders in the shipping industry including freight forwarders,” he explained.

STORY: KORYEKPOR AWEKSU FREEMAN