..... through their importers, clearing agents in cahoots with destination inspection companies

By Livingstone Pay Charlie

Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry is squatting on gigantic fraud and corruption left behind by the New Patriotic Party government.

This state of affairs, the Republic can report is a network of clearing agents, importers and Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) that denies the state trillions of cedis in revenue.

A forensic audit conducted into “Operations Reports’ of Gateway Services Limited (GSL), a DIC, by this paper has uncovered that the nation lost ¢22.4 trillion (US$1.6 billion) in revenue.

Out of a total of 182,596 Final Classification and Valuation Reports (FCVR) issued and assessed to be ¢36.1 trillion (US$ 976 million) on imported goods, only ¢13.7 trillion representing 38 percent was collected. This leaves ¢22.4 trillion representing 62 percent uncollected.

The forensic audit, which is a subject of further investigations by this paper covered the period of 2003 to 2009 at the Tema and Takoradi ports.

A mafia believed to be oiled by NPP elements is said to be aiding importers to evade taxes or have taxes reduced to ridiculous levels.

The mafia basically connives with some DICs to do this. Â With regards to the operations of GSL, importers who had their goods valued “migrate’ to other destination companies where documents are forged, reducing the amount to be paid to CEPS for their goods to be cleared.

Intelligence reports say the mafia is still at work compromising some big shots even in the Atta Mills administration to do the unthinkable.

It is still unclear why the Ministry of Trade headed by Hannah Tetteh is yet to deal with these DICs. It is not only GSL which is enmeshed in this revenue loss; there are others whose activities, wittingly or unwittingly, will be exposed in our subsequent editions.

GSL was from January 2003 given perhaps the biggest geographical coverage to do destination inspection of imported goods.

It operates on goods from selected countries in Northern Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, North and Central America, Southern Africa, South America and Asia. A school of thought has it that with the inefficiency and connivance of these DICs, government must immediately take up the job of destination inspection and make sure that the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) is fully resourced to do it as recommended by constitutional provisions.

Stay tuned!