Claim: In 2018, the government reduced the number of agencies conducting physical inspections at ports from 16 to three.
Source: Bernard Bediako Baidoo, Member of Parliament for Akwatia
Verdict: True
Researched by Samuel Adjetey Adjei
The Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Bernard Bediako Baidoo, claimed that a 2018 government decision reduced the number of agencies conducting physical inspections at Ghana’s ports from 16 to three.
This decision, according to him, resulted in the exclusion of National Security and the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from the inspection process.
He made the claim during an appearance on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 19, 2026, while contributing to a discussion on the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine by French authorities from a container that originated from Ghana.
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He said, “Sometime in 2018 there was a cabinet decision…. which was announced by Dr. Bawumia, that they wanted some reforms at the port. Dr. Bawumia announced that (before) hitherto, they had 16 agencies that did physical inspection before anything is allowed out of the country. They reduced it to three. They took out National Security, they took out the Narcotic Control Authority. These are facts, and I thought that you should know.
“I don’t know why it escaped NDC or we didn’t know about it when we came to power and that is why the president called them [security heads] and asked what was happening. They were told that the Narcotic Control Commission since 2018 is not part of the routine inspection, they only do an intelligence led operation. Whenever they have intelligence, they come to the port to do their work, otherwise they don’t have access to anything there. This is what we have lived with since 2018,” he added.
This claim has been repeated by other officials in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) including the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe and the GoldBod CEO, Sammy Gyamfi.
This report will verify the claim about agencies allowed to undertake inspection at the ports.
Fact-check
GhanaFact’s checks show that in 2018, then Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced a cabinet decision to reduce the number of agencies undertaking joint inspections at Ghana’s ports from 16 to three, effective July 1, 2018.
The three agencies to be maintained were the Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority and Customs, while National Security or the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) would join inspections based on intelligence.
Dr. Bawumia made the announcement at the 4th edition of MOBEX Africa ICT EXPO in Accra. In a post on his Facebook and X accounts, Dr Bawumia said: “Effective 1st July, 2018 the number of agencies undertaking joint inspections at the port has been reduced from 16 to 3 (Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority and Customs). National Security or NACOB will join based on intelligence.”
Multiple news outlets reported the announcement which formed part of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government’s “paperless ports” policy. (see here and here)
This confirms that the number of agencies undertaking joint inspections was indeed reduced from sixteen (16) to three (3), but the announcement did not state that National Security and NACOC had been completely removed from the inspection process. Instead, it specifically indicated that they could participate based on intelligence.
Verdict:
The claim is therefore rated as true.
