The Minority in Parliament has said a public claim by government in March this year that some 1,357 shipping containers filled with cables and other equipment belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have gone missing from the Tema Port was nothing but a big hoax.
The Caucus, in addressing a news conference on Tuesday called on Energy Minister, John Jinapor to appear before Parliament to give a full briefing on the said missing containers because new information from government agencies suggests the supposedly missing containers have been found.
The Deputy Ranking Member on the Energy Committee, Collins Adomako Mensah, who addressed the press conference on behalf of the Minority said it is nonsensical for government to tell Ghanaians in March that some 1,357 containers had gone missing and then the same government to return in May to say it had retrieved 2,637 containers out of the missing 1,357.
“Today, we have been told that a total of 2,637, twice the number that were purportedly missing have suddenly been found at the same Tema Port. This is a very strange development and we are calling on the Minister to come clean with all the facts in relation to this particular missing container.
“Indeed if you recall, the then Board Chairman of the ECG, our Leader, was called upon to resign and that he had superintended over the missing containers. Today we are being told by the same group of people that indeed the containers were not just missing but they just did not do their auditing very well and they have been found at the same Tema Port. The Position of the Minority is that we are calling on the Minister to appear before us in Parliament to give us a full brief on the entire details of what has transpired for the past months when this same issue of the missing containers appeared”, Collins Adomako Mensah, MP for the Afigya Kwabre North Constituency noted.
He added: “Initially, ECG reported 2,491 unclaimed containers to the minister, who then set up a committee to investigate. The committee later claimed 1,134 were missing. The Minister even conducted raids with national security, alleging some companies had stolen the containers. Now, we are told 2,637 containers—more than double the supposed missing number—have been found at Tema Port. This is a very strange development.”
Sack Jinapor
Meanwhile the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) has urged President John Dramani Mahama to sack Energy Minister John Jinapor for displaying a gross level of incompetence in handling the missing container saga and other matters affecting the energy sector.
A statement from the IERPP noted:
The Institute for Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) is deeply concerned about recent
developments regarding the alleged disappearance of over 1,300 containers consigned to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), as reported by the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Hon. John Abdulai Jinapor.
According to the Minister, an internal investigation revealed that out of 2,491 uncleared containers, only 1,134 were accounted for, implying that 1,357 containers were missing. This claim was presented as evidence of entrenched corruption and mismanagement within the ECG.
However, a joint investigative committee has since traced 2,637 previously unaccounted-for containers located at various terminals within the Tema Port, far exceeding the number originally cited by the Minister.
This significant discrepancy raises serious concerns about the accuracy, methodology, and motives behind the Minister’s initial claims.
In an era where Ghana’s energy sector is facing acute challenges, including persistent power outages that are severely affecting households and businesses, such misleading public pronouncements without proper due diligence are not only unhelpful but dangerous.
They distract from problem-solving, undermine public confidence, and erode investor trust. The Institute is of the firm view that leadership in this critical sector must be grounded in competence, integrity, and evidence-based decision-making.
At a time when the nation demands solutions to worsening power supply issues, the Minister’s approach has proven reactionary and counterproductive. We, therefore, call on Hon. John Abdulai Jinapor to take full responsibility for this failure of leadership.
In the interest of accountability and the pursuit of better governance, the Institute urges President John Dramani Mahama to immediately sack the energy minister and make way for a more competent and focused individual who can restore confidence, drive reforms, and deliver results.
The energy sector is too vital to be treated with political theatrics. Ghana deserves a leadership that confronts problems with facts, not speculation, with strategy, not showmanship.
