President John Dramani Mahama has urged swift action to eliminate demurrage charges imposed on traders due to system failures at Ghana’s ports, describing such penalties as unfair and avoidable.
Speaking on Friday, July 11, 2025, during a meeting with Ghana Institute of freight forwarders at the Jubilee House, President Mahama said the government has already begun implementing its 24-hour economy policy at the ports to ensure continuous operations.
“We’ve received reports from the ports, Customs, and others that they have already started implementing the 24-hour economy policy at the ports, ensuring continuous operations around the clock,” Mahama stated.
“As you rightly said, we need all other agencies that have not yet adjusted to this new operational tempo to speed up and fully implement the policy.”
Addressing ongoing technical issues, Mahama noted challenges with the Integrated Customs Management System (ICOMS), which traders say often suffers downtime that halts operations for entire days.
“Regarding ICOMS, I’m glad the Commissioner has indicated that work is ongoing to resolve its challenges. We’ve heard frequent complaints about system downtime, which can disrupt processing for entire days. It’s unfair that traders suffer penalties like demurrage for delays caused by system failures beyond their control,” he said.
“There must be a way to ‘stop the clock’ when ICOMS is down so that businesses are not penalized unjustly. We hope the upgrades and improvements under discussion will deliver a more stable and efficient system,” the President added.
Mahama assured stakeholders of his government’s commitment to ensuring smoother port operations and fairer treatment of businesses engaged in international trade.
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