Accra, March 25,GNA – President of the Chamber of Freight and Trade, Dennis Amfo-Sefah, is calling President Akufo-Addo’s encouragement, to Ghana Link Network Services Limited, which is deploying the UNIPASS software for the Administration of the country’s Ports, as a humbling punch for critics of the new system.
Speaking exclusively in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, Mr. Amfo-Sefah said the President’s encouragement was a signal to the few critics of the system, to shut up. “The President’sencouragement to Ghana Link is telling, giving the timing. It came at a time that the few detractors of the new system were all over the media crusading against this masterstroke innovation.
“Hopefully, now that
the President has spoken, the detractors will shut up and let us have a
peaceful roll out of the new system,” Mr. Amfo-Sefah said.
His take is in reference to the fact that President Akufo-Addo met the Ghana Link officials and encouraged themto set up their software system in such a way that it would have no loopholes susceptible to people who want to continue swindling the State at its Ports.
The software system being deployed by Ghana Link, is the UNIPASS system, which will govern Government’s paperless administration of the Ports around the country. Supporters of the system point out that it would throw out the human element in Port Administration which often bred corruption and unnecessary bureaucracy.
However, the few detractors of the system claim that scrapping the existing customs and Portstechnology would rather make revenue suffer.
“I don’t get how these people opposed to UNIPASS come to this conclusion that the new single window governed by UNIPASS will rather make revenue suffer. The new system will put a single window under the thumb of the Ghana Revenue Authority so that tracking of all revenue at the ports will just be a matter of clicks, so how is this rather going to make it difficult to track revenue?” Dennis Amfo-Sefah
said.
He added that the few number of the detractors and the intransigence of their argument made him to suspect that those kicking against the new system were agents fronting for the companies that operated the old largely manual system.
“There have been allegations that the detractors have vested interest, I have refused to believe
this, but sometimes you just can’t help, but wonder if the detraction is not motivated by personal greed.” He said.
Mr. Amfo-Sefah, who has long said that Freight Forwarders were agreeable to the new system thanked the President for encouraging the
deployment of the new system and called on Ghana Link to rump up efforts to deploy the new system.
GNA
