… As Importers demand probe
The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Sarpong, and the Commissioner of the Customs Division, Aaron Kanor, have visited the Tema Port over reports of missing containers and unaccounted-for cargo.
The visit, according to information available to The Herald, was part of a fact-finding exercise to verify reports of the disappearance, unexplained movement, and emptying of containers belonging to importers.
The development follows a petition filed with the GRA seeking an urgent investigation into the status of 28 containers at the Tema Port, which the petitioners allege were removed, transferred, emptied, or moved without the owners’ knowledge.
The petition, dated September 29, 2026, and addressed to the Commissioner-General, raises concerns about the whereabouts and status of the containers at various stages of the clearance process.
According to the petition, the 28 containers were found to be empty, missing, transferred, or moved out of the port without the owners’ knowledge.
The GRA leadership’s visit comes at a time when more importers and their agents are reportedly raising concerns about containers they say they cannot trace, or whose contents cannot be accounted for even after the containers themselves have been located.
The importers and their agents have reportedly been presenting documentation submitted to port authorities in an attempt to trace their containers and establish the whereabouts of their cargo.
One such document was reportedly submitted to the National Security outfit at the Tema Port, containing details of container numbers and the goods declared to be inside them.
The petition further states that an official complaint has already been lodged with the Tema Regional Police Command, resulting in the arrest of some persons in connection with the matter.
The petitioners are calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the movement and disappearance of the containers and the goods they were carrying.
Of particular concern are five containers declared to contain cyanide.
Two of the containers, numbered MRKU8438492 and MRKU9594777, were reportedly found at the DVLA Preventive Terminal in Tema.
Another container, TEMU1333716, was reportedly found at the GPHA Terminal, while containers SUDU7631650 and TIIU2281806 were listed as not found.
The petition also raises questions about containers carrying other commodities, including condensed milk, sardines, alcohol, textiles, pharmaceuticals, black pepper, and tomato paste.
Of the four containers carrying condensed milk, three were reportedly located at the Atlas Terminal, while one was listed as empty.
All three containers carrying sardines were recorded as empty. Four containers carrying alcohol and three containing textiles were also listed as empty.
A container declared to contain pharmaceuticals was similarly recorded as empty.
Two containers carrying black pepper were reportedly offloaded into a warehouse.
The situation involving tomato paste appears particularly significant. Of the six containers listed, five were recorded as not found, while the remaining container was listed as empty.
Overall, the status table attached to the petition shows that seven of the 28 containers were recorded as not found, while 13 were listed as empty.
Six containers were reportedly located at various terminals, while two had been offloaded into a warehouse.
The petitioners said they were seeking the intervention of the GRA because the containers had reached various stages of the clearance process, and their status raised serious questions about how they had been handled within and around the port.
The document was signed by two agents, Elvis Kwabena Awuah and Ibrahim Amadou, and by importer representatives Amadu Diande and Amadou Djiguba.
The petition was copied to several institutions and stakeholders, including the Commissioner of the Customs Division; the Director and Security Manager of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Tema; National Security, Tema; and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Tema.
Also copied were the Shippers’ Council; the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF); the Customs Brokers Association of Ghana (CUBAG); the Mali Shippers Council; the Burkina Shippers Council; the Sahel Representative; the Sector Commander of the Tema Collection; and the Managing Directors of Maersk Ghana Limited and MSC Ghana Limited.
The petitioners said they were prepared to assist with the investigations and urged the authorities to act on the matter.
The development comes amid heightened scrutiny of the security and integrity of cargo handling and clearance procedures at Ghana’s major ports, particularly due to concerns over the unauthorized movement of containers and the possible diversion of cargo.
The Herald understands that the petition has been received by the relevant authorities, with the petitioners awaiting a full investigation into how the 28 containers were handled, where they were moved to, and the whereabouts of their contents.
