The total volume of the seized products is 810,000 litres.

Additionally, the 15 trucks will be auctioned to the public after the products have been sold to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

[contextly_sidebar id=”qxbqjQpCQ0u02NHg7atuiWDEVlvALhGd”]According to the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, three truckloads of the products had so far been sold to GOIL.

He said the remaining products would be dispatched to GOIL stations to complete the process.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday, Mr. Tampuli said the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was in charge of the disposal of the products and the trucks.

Sale
Explaining further, Mr Tampuli said the Customs Division, in collaboration with the NPA, had sent confiscation notices to the owners of the trucks and products.

He said the management of the affected companies would also be invited before the NPA Board to explain why their company licences should not be revoked.

Mr Tampuli said the Customs Division would take the tax component from the sale of the trucks and products, while the NPA would benefit from the margins.

The NPA CEO said the public would be notified of the intended auction of the seized trucks.

Smuggling

The country risks losing a whopping GH¢1.5 billion in taxes and levies in 2017 due to the incidents of smuggling of fuel products.

Ghana lost an estimated GH¢800 million in 2016 as a result of the problem, which peaked last year.

But for smuggling, Ghana would have gained more than GH¢5 billion in revenue in 2017.

The President of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, said more than 4,000 jobs would be lost this year if nothing was done about the problem.

Culprits who pose as exporters, enjoy low taxes and subsequently divert fuel products they are expected to export to Mali and Burkina Faso back to Ghana and sell them at prices lower than those of the OMCs whose prices contain taxes and levies.

Confiscation

Officials of the NPA, in collaboration with security personnel, impounded the 15 trucks in September, this year.

Each of the trucks was loaded with 54,000 litres of either petrol or diesel.

“A joint operation involving the military, the police, personnel from National Security and NPA staff, also arrested some drivers believed to be members of the fuel dumping syndicate in Tema who had in their possession, fake documents and fake Malian number plates,” Mr Tampuli said. The arrest were effected on September 12, 2017 around 5 p.m.

According to him, “the NPA received intelligence from the National Security regarding a suspicious export loading activity of petroleum products that had been carried out by some individuals with trucks stationed at a yard in Tema around Kpone, intending to dump the products at local retail outlets.”

“The operation team subsequently moved to the vicinity of the reported illegality around 7 p.m. to initially survey the area and plan the arrest of the individuals and Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) involved.

“Following the survey, the team scheduled a raid and arrest of the parties involved in the morning of Tuesday, September 12, 2017,” Mr Tampuli said.

He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to lift products from depots in the country using trucks with Fake Malian numbers; the products were declared for exports into Mali, but were dumped onto the Ghanaian market.

–

Source: Graphic Online

The post 15 truckloads of smuggled petroleum products confiscated appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The late Obeng held various political and public positions in Ghana and worked closely with many politicians from both sides of the divide.

Mr Obeng served in the Rawlings administration and was a senior advisor to the late President John Mills and continued in a similar role under current President, John Mahama.

PV believed in Ghana – Nana Ato Dadzie

A former Chief of Staff under the Rawlings administration, Nana Ato Dadzie on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday stated that Ghana has lost a gem.

According to him, Mr. Obeng lived all his life in the public service and greatly contributed to the development of the nation.

“To think that he started as a private man, a private engineer and drifted into government…PV was a leader of the pack…he pulled all of us together, he developed ideas and moved the country forward,” he recalled.

He remarked that during the PNDC era, Mr. Obeng played a crucial role to move the country forward despite the challenges and hardships Ghanaians were experiencing.

Mr. Dadzie said the late PV Obeng was a firm believer in Ghana, “he was a patriot, a nationalist; he believed that there was a brighter future for Ghana. When you look back today at how far we’ve come, we are proud that we served.”

He further described the late senior presidential advisor  as “a consensus man, a bridge builder, he was the type of person who could rally people round and push us to forget our pain…and just move on.”

PV was not an extremist – John Ndebugri

A former PNDC secretary for the Northern Region, John Ndebugri said the news of the death of PV Obeng “was a shock to me…I just was speechless and I think that it is a tragedy for Ghana.”

He recalled that Mr. Obeng had earlier complained that “I [Ndebugri] am not in touch, I’m not in touch. Apparently, maybe he wanted us to meet for the last time but I think that it’s really, really tragic…and I still do not want to accept it that he is gone just like that.”

Mr. Ndebugri, who worked in the late PV Obeng’s office during the PNDC era, noted that his former boss was a moderate politcian who always brought people together.

These qualities, he said, is the possible reason “chairman Rawlings at that time relied so heavily on him because he was able to hold the middle ground and bring all forces to the center at least for negotiations.”

PV was a teacher – Moses Asaga

The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Moses Asaga on his part described the late PV Obeng as “an illustrious son of this country and I think that the NDC, government and the whole of Ghana have lost a baobab tree.”

He recollected that during his tenure as a deputy Finance Minister, “I worked closely with him; he taught me a lot of things, on how to manage the economy, etcetera.”

According to him, when the NDC was in opposition “I used to visit his home and then he will tell me what we must say or how to talk politely in Parliament, the issues that I must raise and that helped me a lot to have a balanced view as a ranking member for finance.”

PV had a huge brain capacity – Prof Akosa

A leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Executive Director of Healthy Ghana, Professor Badu Akosa said although Mr. Obeng death came as a shock to him, it is not surprising for strong looking individuals to die unexpectedly.

“I have seen this in my daily schedule of work. It happens all the time in this country. People either go to the loo and don’t get up, those who are lucky are those who sleep and don’t get up.”

The late PV Obeng reportedly had an asthma attack while driving on the Spintex road which resulted in his death but according to Prof. Akosa, Mr. Obeng had never complained about this illness “but I thought that he has been asthmatic for all these years and that he will be on regular treatment.”

He remarked that Mr. Obeng’s schedule was huge “because every time you have a meeting with him, he will eventually get there but most of the time, he will make a few detours before he gets back to you. But the fact of the matter is that he never complained.”

Prof Akosa marveled at the brain capacity of the late Obeng and his phenomenal ability to remember happenings in Ghana in years past.

PV had a digital mind – Dr. Nii Moi Thompson

An economic advisor to the President, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson also on the Citi Breakfast Show said since he assumed this position, the late PV Obeng “is the one person that I have developed the closest working relationship with.”

According to him, PV Obeng had “a digital mind. While the rest of us are always going in circles, he always went straight to the point.”

Dr. Thompson recalled that his last interaction with him was at the National Economic Forum and “his last words to me were, ‘you know that you owe me’ and he was referring to a report.”

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

The post Tributes pour in for P.V Obeng appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.