A procurement specialist, Kwabena Atta Badu, has attributed recent reports of diverted imported goods to what he describes as the deliberate concealment of the identities of the actual importers behind such consignments.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, February 24, Atta Badu questioned why public discussions on the diversion of goods often focus on state agencies, clearing agents, and security officials while failing to disclose the individuals or companies who own the shipments.
He argued that the omission of importers from investigations and public discourse weakens accountability and allows corruption networks to persist within the import chain.
“A clearing agent follows the principle of agency, which means there is a principal and the agent. The consignee is the principal and he is the one who is the importer and bears ultimate liability so if an agent does something in the name of the principal, he bears vicarious liability so the clearing agent who does anything wrong in the name of the principal, when they catch the agent, they must catch the principal.”
He further suggested that the reluctance to publicly identify consignees in diversion cases reflects entrenched systemic issues.
“Not mentioning the name of the principal (consignee) explains how deep-seated corruption is in this country and the network of unseen hands involved in it.”
His remarks come in the wake of recent enforcement actions by Customs authorities, including the impounded 18 trucks loaded with assorted goods as well as the interception of fifty 20-foot containers believed to have been diverted into the local market.
Source: CNR
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