GUTA kicks against deployment of Publican AI system at the ports

What began as one of the most serious threats to Ghana’s port operations in recent memory appeared to step back from the brink yesterday, after emergency talks between the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) and the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), under the leadership of Prof Ransford Gyampo, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GSA, produced an uneasy but significant truce.

The traders have suspended full rollout of its planned trade action against the Publican AI customs valuation system but has stopped well short of dropping its demands.

The crisis had been simmering for weeks.

The Publican AI system, deployed by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) as a mandatory customs valuation tool for all import clearances, was designed to modernise port operations and close long-standing revenue leakages that had cost the state billions. For the trading community, however, its arrival brought chaos rather than order.

 

Traders across the country found themselves simultaneously battling unpredictable and excessively high duty assessments bearing little relation to the actual value of their goods, prolonged delays in cargo clearance that left containers accumulating costs at the port, mounting demurrage and rent charges eating into already thin margins and the near-total absence of a credible mechanism for challenging valuations they considered unjust.

The traders say it raised these concerns with government through repeated engagements. Each round of discussions, it says, ended without resolution.

The Ultimatum

Patience finally snapped on Sunday, April 12, 2026. In a strongly worded statement signed by GUTA President Clement Boateng, the association issued a clear ultimatum, directing all freight forwarders and clearing agents to cease payment of duties and lay down their tools from Monday, April 13 to Friday, April 17, a full five-day industrial action aimed at compelling the immediate suspension of the Publican AI system and a comprehensive review of its application.

GUTA went further, advising its members to temporarily halt all importation activities until clarity and predictability were restored.

“These conditions have created an unsustainable trading environment and pose a serious threat to business continuity. We urge the Government to act decisively to restore confidence, stability, and fairness within Ghana’s trade regime,” the statement said.

The Scramble

Monday morning brought fresh urgency to an already tense situation. The CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo, spoke on Accra-based Citi FM to confirm that he had been specifically tasked by his superiors to meet with the striking groups that afternoon, to find a resolution, even as both the sector minister and the finance minister were out of town attending other engagements.

Professor Gyampo was already managing a second crisis simultaneously. The Joint Association of Port Transport Drivers Union had separately threatened a sit-down strike over the Authority’s ongoing registration exercise under Section 26.1 of Act 1122, which requires all shipping service providers to be formally registered before rendering services.

 

“There is no cause for alarm,” he told Citi FM, adding “There is no need for them to go on strike on a matter that we ourselves initially agreed we would sit down to discuss and iron out.”

On the broader port crisis, his position was equally measured, but determined.

“I am hoping that by the close of day today, we will be able to get them to come out with a certain announcement that would ease the tension and ensure that there are no disruptions at the ports,” he said.

The Breakthrough

That announcement came as high-level meeting convened at the Ghana Shippers’ House in Accra, on Monday, April 13, 2026 which brought together GUTA leadership, representatives of freight forwarders’ associations, and Professor Gyampo.

Around the table, the temperature was brought down sufficiently for both sides to step back from immediate confrontation.

Following the meeting, GUTA agreed to suspend the full-scale rollout of its industrial action to allow for further consultations. A scheduled engagement with the Minister of Transport, Joseph Nikpe Bukari, has been set for Thursday, April 16, 2026 – giving both sides a structured platform to address the outstanding concerns at a higher political level.
Professor Gyampo, for his part, underscored the importance of dialogue and collaboration in resolving industry concerns, assuring traders that their issues would be addressed through the appropriate institutional channels.

He emphasised that the GSA remains committed to promoting a fair and efficient trading environment while ensuring that reforms serve the broader interest of the economy.

The Uneasy Truce

The suspension of the strike, however, should not be mistaken for a resolution. GUTA officials welcomed the engagement, but made clear that their core demand remains firmly on the table, the suspension of the Publican AI system pending further and more meaningful stakeholder consultation.

The association maintains that rising duties under the current system are forcing traders and manufacturers out of business, a situation it says is unsustainable regardless of the government’s revenue objectives.
The coming days will be critical. With Thursday’s ministerial meeting now the focal point, both sides have bought themselves time, but the underlying tensions that drove Ghana’s trading community to the brink of a full port shutdown have not been resolved. They have merely been deferred.

 

 

 

 

For more news, join The Chronicle Newspaper channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBSs55E50UqNPvSOm2z

The post GUTA kicks against deployment of Publican AI system at the ports appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.

Read Full Story