Mr. President, please get a discreet report on the Ghana Link/UNIPASS ICUMS deal

His Excellency the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, is certainly a busy man in this era of COVID-19 as he takes key decisions that could either save or destroy lives and livelihood.

He is spending sleepless night scrutinizing the implications of each decision he would make and what even makes him busier is the fact that those decisions are taken based on variables that are never certain.

But to a very large extent, Ghana, under his leadership has managed the situation relatively well, considering reports from other parts of the world, even from some advanced democracies.

It is our continuous prayer that as a country, the Good Lord grants us an enhanced spirit of unity, in this era, to rally behind leadership to fight this pandemic together and win together.

In as much as we understand the President’s hands are full with issues of COVID-19, The New Publisher, gathers the courage to dare him to look beyond his conventional kitchen cabinet and to seek an independent and discreet opinion on the entire Ghana Link/UNIPASS and now ICUMS deal.

It is a difficult situation when some of the persons who rely on for such critical information, are themselves parties and part of the problem you seek to solve.

It is even more difficult when Senior Custom officials and other institutional heads take direct instructions from some of these interested persons on the corridors of power and therefore they logically have to look over their shoulders when taking decisions on Ghana Link/UNIPASS and now ICUMS deal.

The contract itself was problematic. The termination clauses in there raise eyebrows and drop jaws. The preconditions contained in the contract that the systems of the existing vendors, GCNet and West Blue shall be taken from them and given to the incoming operator, Ghana Link, is ridiculous.

The damming testimonial of Ghana Link/ALIC, when it was contracted to develop and operate the same single window in neighboring Sierra Leone is super scary.

Mr. President, it has come to implementation and we, as a country, have gone back to manual clearance at the ports right under your watch. Incredible!!!

This is not the enhanced ports efficiency your Vice President promised us when he revamped the entire trade facilitation chain at the ports and introduced Paperless Ports in 2017.

Something is wrong and we dare say individual interests have been placed over national interest.

The end result of this attitude of sweeping the dust under the carpet and pretending all is well is frightening especially when it is about trade and revenue generation in a year that we are confronted with COVID-19 financial challenges and at a time we have just 8 months to general polls.

Fold up your sleeves sir, look beyond the persons who serve as your ears and eyes and the reality of the crisis, when rectified, would bring you inner peace.

May God bless our homeland, Ghana.