The Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG) is urging the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to broaden its current anti-corruption investigations to encompass Customs officials who are suspected of accumulating unexplained wealth.
As stated by OPDAG, investigating Customs officers who possess two or more residences could assist in uncovering potential misconduct associated with the diversion and smuggling of oil into the Ghanaian market.
In an interview with Citi Business News, the President of OPDAG, Paul Kwabena Amaning, expressed his support for the recent efforts to combat smuggled and diverted oil products.
He noted that the severity of the issue has escalated considerably, claiming that nearly 90 percent of the oil available in the Ghanaian market is smuggled.
He cautioned that the increasing illicit trade jeopardizes the government’s commitment to a proposed US$500 million Oil Palm Development Finance Window, which aims to foster the long-term growth and sustainability of Ghana’s oil palm sector.
“It is typical because these individuals who act as agents, in fact, form a syndicate, where the primary customs officials, who are tasked with ensuring the security of our borders, are failing to perform their duties as they collude with these criminals, including market women and importers, to find ways to bring in the oil.
“I am aware that His Excellency John Dramani Mahama has a genuine intention to invest nearly $500 million into the industry. However, with all these interventions, if we are unable to sell due to the tax component on the product, making our local oil prices excessively high, we are not competitive at all in terms of pricing,” stated Paul Kwabena Amaning.
“Yet, we continue to emphasize this issue. No one has come to our assistance. Now, the special prosecutor claims he will take action. I urge him to thoroughly investigate every customs officer who owns two, three, or four houses, to determine how they acquired those properties. A deep investigation is necessary to resolve this issue,” he added.
The OSP has recently declared the initiation of investigations into a suspected corruption scheme concerning the misappropriation of fifty 20-foot containers of palm oil, which are valued at GH¢25.8 million. This shipment was purportedly declared as goods in transit to Burkina Faso but was allegedly rerouted into the Ghanaian market without the necessary payment of duties and taxes.
In a related matter, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has also recently apprehended 12 articulated trucks along the Dawhenya–Tema Road during a significant enforcement operation. These trucks were part of a larger shipment of 18 that had been electronically cleared as transit goods.
The shipment was reported to have originated from Akanu and was intended for Niger via Kulungugu. However, authorities intercepted the trucks due to the absence of the required Customs human escort, which constitutes a violation of Ghana’s transit regulations.
The trucks were transporting 44,055 packages of edible cooking oil, tomato paste, and spaghetti. Authorities estimate that the potential taxes at risk from this attempted diversion exceed GH¢85 million.
