President John Dramani Mahama has issued a directive to the Minister for Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, and the Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, to immediately examine every fee that shipping companies in Ghana impose, and make sure that Parliament approves them.
President Mahama in a speech on Friday, July 11, emphasised that any charges levied without parliamentary approval are illegal and unjustified.
He issued the directive in reaction to a meeting he had with freight forwarders, who expressed concern that certain shipping lines impose unapproved administrative fees that boost operating costs and jeopardize revenue optimization at Ghana's ports. "We have charged the Minister of Transport to go into it and sit with the shipping lines and look into those administrative charges. "The law says fees and levies shall be ratified by Parliament, and so nobody can come and charge any fees within the jurisdiction of Ghana.
We consulted the Attorney General, and you cannot charge any fee or levy within the territories of Ghana without parliamentary approval," citinewsroom.con quotes the president as saying.
