The Government of Ghana has been losing a whopping US$1,459,635.00 annually due to the corrupt practices of some uniformed officials at checkpoints along the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor.

This was disclosed at a stakeholder’s forum on the theme “Accelerating Economic Development through Improved Road Transport Governance” at Paga in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Speaking to a gathering of senior officials drawn from the Motor Traffic Unit (MTU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Customs Excise and Preventive Services, Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Media, Mr. Louis Acheampong, from the Social Support Foundation (SSF), a civil society organization based in Obuasi in the Ashanti region, said that Ghana was second after Mali in the extortion or collection of unapproved payments from truckers on our road transport corridors.

Mr. Acheampong said that truckers paid US$4.98 in bribe for every 100 kilometres to uniformed officials mostly from the Ghana Police Service and Customs, Excise and Preventive Services at the checkpoints along the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor. According to him, a report on corruption revealed that national economies of the West Africa sub-region lose about US$1.5m in a year because this money goes into the pockets of officials at the various check points. It also came to light that the officials still collect unofficial monies from cargo drivers irrespective of whether these drivers have the required documentations on their vehicles and cargoes.

The report further revealed that Ghana again came second after Mali in delays at check points and number of unofficial barriers. Analysis made by the report indicates that delays and the collection of bribes at checkpoints have significantly increased the cost of business and cost of living since they translate into high cost of goods and services.

It is in view of this that stakeholders have called on the government of Ghana to effectively and strictly enforce decisions on road transport governance to reduce transport corruption and to implement firm measures in order to see positive results.

To achieve this, participants suggested the reduction of road transport taxes and delays on the corridor through the withdrawal of the transit fee at Paga; liberalization of haulage operations in Tema port; the reduction of fee for satellite tracking from Paga to Tema; and the expansion of services to cover the corridor. Participants also suggested the effective use of weighbridges in the Tema port, simplification of port clearance procedures and the application of port tariff for striping of cargo, and the improves management of port container handling equipment, increased transparency of shipping.

The forum was organized by Social Support Foundation (SSF) a civil society organization based in Obuasi in the Ashanti region.

Source: Public Agenda

Tags: bribery, checkpoint, corruption, officials, uniformed