Mindblowing!: Dirty Deals At Tema Port Worsens As Top Guns Fully Endorse Daylight Extortion

Tema Container Terminal

When Ghanaian Ace Investigative Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas of The New Crusading Guide, made staggering revelations on the non-stop grand executive corruption at the Tema Port where top officials of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) under the Ghana Revenue Authroity (GRA) were caught on tape engaging in daylight thievery, many were those who concluded that Anas' exposé would for some years reduce corruption at the Tema Habour.

This is because then President John Evans Atta-Mills, who was worried by what he saw on Anas' secret investigative video at that time responded promptly to the exposé by rushing to the port at Tema, where he warned of very dire consequences on officials.

One of the actions the government at the time took was to ask all CEPS officials and top guns at the Ports to declare their assets.

Importers and other business men, who plied their trade at the Tema Port on the other hand, also heaved a sigh of relief with a fervent hope that this will go a long way to deter any worker at the country's major ports who had the intention of committing the same offence.

However, ModernGhana can state on authority that those dirty deals at the Tema Port has not reduced and there is no indication that it will be curtailed since importers and businessmen still continue to go through frustrations and its accompanied unbridled extortion in broad day light.

ModernGhana can incontrovertibly confirm that the new twist to the whole rot is yet another department at the Tema Port known as the Tema Container Terminal Limited (TCT), which is currently managed by Bollor Africa Logistics Group to provide professional services in Container handling matters.

The TCT currently delivers 50.000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) of full import containers to Ghanaian importers and has a permanent storage capacity of 4.800 TEU for empty containers.

According to reports and complaints from worried importers who spoke to ModernGhana, workers at the TCT have resolved to engage in high level extortion in broad day light and the most heart-bleeding aspect of the matter is that when they report them to their superiors, they rarely punish those perpetrators.

The concerned importers further remonstrated that the top officials at the TCT are doing this great country Ghana, a great disservice since these top guns turn blind eyes over the matter with folded arms—a clear indication that those atop management have kickbacks in the proceeds of these nation wrecking activities.

One of the victims of this stinging extortion in broad day light, who prefers to remain anonymous, shared his ordeals and frustrations with ModernGhana:

………“I just arrived from overseas and brought two containers through GPHA and as a vigilant person I decided to follow the clearing procedures and to my surprise I made some shocking observations which I might not be able to elaborate into detail but will try my best to explain.

To avoid complications I boarded both containers on the same vessel to the Tema Port but when it got here, the GPHA separated both containers with the excuse that they had to share it among the stevedoring companies.

Not perturbed I got in touch with my clearing agent and we started the clearing process; we started with both containers and to my surprise it took 3 days to clear from MPS and 9 days to clear from TCT MPS clearing.

We sent the entry via GCNET and went to the shipping line to pay their charges after which we went to MPS to pay their charges and from there they gave us a permit which we in turn gave to the transporter who went and brought the container for inspection.

To my surprise, we were out of the port the next day. We sent the TCT clearing via GCNET and went to the shipping line to pay for their charges after which we got back to TCT to pay for their charges and that was where we were struck by hell.

It took 5 days for the container to arrive at TCT and also 1-day to pay their charges. To drop the container for examination it took us another day even with that, we had to pay the foreman and the machine operator.

When we were done with the inspection we had to pay the machine operator again to load the container onto the truck which took us the whole day.

We came back the next day and they told us we had to pay an extra GH¢50 for spending the night there; I got so furious because the delay was through no fault of ours, it was as if we enjoyed staying in their stupid yard so I gave it to them as if it was nobody's business.

The worst part was when I tried reporting the subordinates to their bosses! Believe you me; it was as useless as hitting the tight of an elephant with a broom stick simply put there is nothing called hierarchy at the TCT.

I wish no one goes through that ordeal but trust me each and every day people are forced to go through that insulting ordeal and it's as if the authorities are not aware but trust me they are fully aware but they just don't give a damn at all since they also take kickbacks at the end of the day.”