The agency in charge of government’s revenue in the Republic of Ghana, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has described as false, accusations of fuel smuggling by its Customs Division.
The GRA’s comments come on the back of a recent claim by Kevin Ekow Taylor, a Ghanaian journalist and resident of the U.S that the Custom Division of GRA was colluding with some persons at the seat of government, Jubilee House, to smuggle fuel into the country.
He claimed that about 50,000 metric tons of fuel, worth US$10 million, is smuggled into the country by cartels at the Jubilee House.
This was published by some online portals.
It would be recalled that on May 13, 2020, this portal reported of the arrest of eight persons for engaging in illegal fuel trading at high sea in the Western Region.
The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Captain William Eson Thompson said the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Western Navy and Marine Police have been collaborating to patrol the sea at night.
The suspects have since been prosecuted.
However, responding to the allegations, the GRA, in a statement, asked the general public to disregard these “negative assertions” circulating on social media purportedly made by a private radio station.
“The Authority views these allegations as mischievous and malicious since they have no merit,” GRA said in the statement.
In what could be described as evidence-based, GRA explained that a vessel with the name MT Randl, which was carrying fuel from Togo to Cote d’Ivoire in May 2020 was intercepted in Takoradi.
The statement added that the vessel was escorted out of Ghana’s territorial waters to where it came from since it was in a bad shape and could pose environmental hazard.
The escort was done by the relevant agencies including the Ghana Navy, Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) and the Customs Division of GRA in Takoradi.
Ghana: 8 Persons Arrested For Engaging In Illegal Fuel Trading At Sea
The Authority further narrated the situation surrounding the interception of another vessel, Dende, by the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Western Naval Command of the Ghana Navy in June.
“The Dende, which was carrying about 50,000 litres of fuel, was detained and the fuel offloaded to avoid contamination. The vessel, together with the fuel, is currently in the custody of the Ghana Navy at the Western Naval Base. Investigations are currently ongoing in the case of the arrest of Dende and the outcome will be made public,” the statement concluded.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
