UNIPASS Contract: They Have The Credibility, Expertise — NPP Japan Branch 1st Vice Chairman

Mr Michael Awuah, the first vice-chairman of NPP-Japan branch has reiterated his unflinching support for the running of the ports and harbours by UNIPASS spearheaded by Ghana Link Service Ltd., in conjunction with Customs UNIPASS international Agency (CUPIA), of the Korean Customs Service.

He argues that GCNET and its other associates have nothing more to offer Ghanaians because, in a recent interview with the Deputy General Manager of Technical at GCNET, Carl Sackey published on the 10th March 2020, he admitted to Joy Business’ Norvan Acquah-Hayford that they would be able to provide all the end-to-end services if the government had asked them to do so. This goes to confirm the earlier denial that they do have a full end-to-end Customs Management System for the country. Mr Sackey believes there is no technical basis for the arguments that are being made but in reality, there are technical basis for bringing on board UNIPASS.

Mr. Michael Awuah indicated that per the information available UNIPASS comes with a lot experience and expertise and is ready to provide a comprehensive national single window platform resulting in more revenue for the country.

In support of the above assertions, the president of the Chamber of Freight Forwarders and Trade. Mr Dennis Amfo-Sefah is of the firm conviction that UNIPASS has come to overcome the difficulties which led to the complete stall of goods clearance at the ports.

In response to last week’s implementation failure by UNIPASS, Mr Awuah said this was a demonstration of the sabotage emanating from the GCNET, West Blues and other unseen saboteurs working tirelessly to stop the beautiful intentions of the UNIPASS agreement and is of the view that after a successful implementation of the contract, Ghana’s port will see a massive transformation.

As far as efficiency is concern, the coming of UNIPASS would lead to a reduction of some port charges from 1% on a consignment of imported items to 0.75% on the same quantity of goods and this would translate into lower port charges and lower prices of goods, he added.

Also, in opposition to the noise and claims made by IMANI Ghana that the UNI-PASS is untested port evaluation system, Mr Awuah said the UNI-PASS was not developed overnight, it was done through numerous trials and errors and more importantly they are working in collaboration with a world-acclaimed institution, the Customs UNIPASS international Agency (CUPIA).

Mr. Awuah said he could not fathom the sense in contracting three vendors in a small country like Ghana to provide three different services at the ports and harbours and therefore the bringing in a single vendor would not only save the country’s money and trade facilitation but also save importers of the increased taxation and reduced the number of hours spent at the various ports.

He praised the GRA and other state agencies for making it possible for a smooth implementation of the UNIPASS contract.