Kwabena Atta Badu, a procurement specialist, has raised concerns about Ghana’s ability to curb the diversion of transit goods, warning that the political connections of major importers often undermine enforcement efforts.
His remarks come amid growing concerns over recurring reports of transit goods being diverted into the local market, a practice that deprives the state of critical revenue and distorts competition for compliant businesses.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, February 24, Atta Badu argued that the structure of Ghana’s import sector makes it difficult to hold the real beneficiaries of diversion schemes accountable.
According to him, large-scale importers who bring substantial volumes of goods into the country often wield significant financial power and maintain political affiliations, complicating investigations and enforcement processes.
“These importers who can bring in twenty 40-foot containers at a time are usually big time importers. So, there is something happening in our body politic today, you find out that all the big time businessmen are affiliated with political parties so there are unseen hands and their names will not come out.
“By the time you get to the bottom of it, that importer is connected to a political party, a bigwig, is a financier, or someone who is closer to the top.”
He explained that the level of capital required to import dozens of containers at once indicates that such operators are not ordinary traders but well-established business figures with extensive networks of influence.
Atta Badu noted that investigations into diversion cases often move beyond clearing agents and middlemen, with trails leading to powerful individuals whose identities rarely become public.
