<<Print>>

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah has described as reckless the statement made by the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, attributing the complications at the Tema Port on Tuesday, 28th April, 2020 to the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo.

According to Isaac Adongo, the Senior Minister should be blamed for the complications at the Tema Port following the roll out of the New Customs Management System, the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).

He added that the Senior Minister eyes the UNIPASS for his pension.

Reacting to the assertion made by the Bolgatanga Central lawmaker through a rejoinder copied to Peacefmonline.com, the member of the Joint Inter-Ministerial Committee said the comment of the MP is unfortunate, demanding withdrawal and an apology to be rendered to the Senior Minister.

The Tema West Member of Parliament said that holding Yaw Osafo Maafo responsible for what happened at the Tema Port last Tuesday would be unfortunate and a calculated attempt to malign ‘an honest politician who is respected by both sides of the House’.

He, however, explained that the newly signed trade facilitation agreement between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and South Korea Customs UNIPASS International Agency (CUPIA)/Ghana Link was a government decision.

He reiterated that the Cabinet set up a Joint Inter-Ministerial Oversight Committee (JIMOC) chaired by the Senior Minister to oversee the implementation of the ICUMS, adding that the Senior Minister has diligently discharged his duties as the Chairman of the Joint Inter Ministerial Oversight Committee to oversee successful deployment of an end-to-end Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).

"But for the Senior Minister we would not be where we are today with the reinstatement of calm in our clearance processes. What happened in the port last Tuesday was reminiscent of a typical system deployment which had done well in other collections like the various entry points and the port of Takoradi during piloting but challenged at the final full implementation for various reasons,” he explained.

The Deputy Trade Minister indicated that every Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system newly deployed experiences difficulties and show significant "left outs” that only needs fixing.

“You never get a newly introduced system from the start without any operational hitches. It happened at the onset of GCNet in 2002 and West Blue in 2015 but these problems were surmounted with time to make the system near seamless,” he justified the hitches at the Tema Port.

He however hinted that the few problems identified during the piloting have been successfully corrected and ready to roll out at the Tema Port; stressing that the challenge encountered was not a system challenge but rather an operational challenge.

“To suggest that the Senior Minister eyes the UNIPASS for his pension exposes the mindset of a befuddled ignoramus. The Senior Minister’s intervention rather calmed nerves and brokered peace and understanding amongst all stakeholders with a resultant resumption of operations at the port,” he slammed Isaac Adongo.

He made mention of the fact that UNIPASS did some work with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2015 where it undertook feasibility studies on a single window operation with regards to international best practices as compared to having multiple vendors for the clearing of goods at the ports which hitherto had created a lot of congestion including goods going into demurrage.

He therefore assured that the new system will rather enhance fast processing and quick reconciliation of documents unlike the multiple systems which used to be there.

He again assured Ghanaians that the UNIPASS system once fully deployed would ensure a considerable increase in revenue mobilization and security as it has become undoubtedly clear to the stakeholders.

The Tema West MP further charged his colleague Member of Parliament Hon. Adongo to “perhaps do a little research in such matters before spewing irresponsible statements on the economist, banker, engineer, and politician, who has diligently served in many capacities in public and private sectors”.

“I, therefore, call on the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, to withdraw his reckless statement and render an apology to the revered Senior Minister,” he demanded.