The Minister of Energy, John Jinapor, has announced that the government will launch a criminal investigation into the disappearance of over 1,300 containers belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Speaking on JoyNews’ News Night on Tuesday, March 25, he emphasized the need for a forensic probe to uncover how the containers were removed from the port and where they ended up.
“What happened is that on assumption of office, I had a briefing, and even at the transition, we got to know that ECG had some containers stuck at the port.
Read also: Over 1,300 ECG containers missing at Tema Port – Investigative report
“My briefing on assumption of Office indicated that they had about 2,500 containers stuck at the port. I visited the port myself and got to know that there was a demurrage of about 1.5 billion,” Jinapor stated.
He further explained that after a physical count, an investigative committee found that, contrary to ECG’s claim of 2,491 uncleared containers, more than 1,300 of those containers were unaccounted for.
“We will launch a criminal investigation into this matter, a forensic one. We ought to determine where and how those containers were taken out of the port and where they ended up. National security, the ports, clearing companies, ECG itself, and all those in the value chain will come under the radar.
“I’m sure that once we launch that criminal investigation, we’ll get to the bottom of it, and the culprits will be brought to book,” he said.
The investigative report, chaired by Prof. Innocent Senyo Acquah, revealed that ECG previously had a dedicated fund for clearing its containers, but this was discontinued before 2022 due to financial constraints.
Meanwhile, ECG contracted two firms to clear the containers, with one company lacking the necessary license, raising concerns about procurement irregularities.
It was further discovered that one of these companies lacked the necessary licence to carry out the contract, raising concerns over procurement breaches.
