Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the minority leader in parliament has stated the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) missing containers must not be politicised.
According to Afenyo Markin, the root cause of the missing containers must be addressed.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Afenyo-Markin stated, “People often see things in a very radioactive state, all because it has taken a partisan twist. I am saying that we can do better as politicians. Let us look at the root cause, and solve that problem. Don’t let us say, ‘It is an NPP problem; they caused it.’”
He added, “The more we continue to do that, the more the system continues to cave in. We shouldn’t be so comfortable.”
The Minority Leader also established that structural inefficiencies in some State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) negatively impact the government.
To address this issue, he said, “I believe that we should use this matter to tackle it comprehensively and get all hands on deck. It doesn’t matter which party is in power.”
Afenyo Markin who served as the board chairman of the ECG under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government on the floor of parliament accused some staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of planning and plotting with Customs Officers at the port to sell over 1,300 missing containers of cables at the Tema Port.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, March 28, 2025, Afenyo-Markin questioned how the containers simply vanished into thin air despite bureaucratic processes at the port.
“How come containers at the port that have arrived, the bureaucracy at our ports, they said the containers are missing? Mr. Speaker, it is true that when these containers come, there’s some connivance with some customs officials. And they sell these containers of cables that ECG needs after the supplier has been paid.”
He further alleged that the cables are resold to ECG, urging lawmakers to focus on addressing the issue rather than politicizing it.
“They sell the containers, and people resell to ECG. Are we pretending we don’t know? Instead of us paying attention to it and killing the rot, then we come here and then NPP, NDC, maybe it happened under NPP, it happened under NDC. No.”
Afenyo-Markin assured the Energy Minister of the Minority’s support in tackling the issue.
“Hon. Energy Minister [John Jinapor], I know what you can do if we can give you support to do it. You must adopt a non-partisan posture and tackle the rot. But if we all want to approach it NPP, NDC, then Mr. Speaker, it will remain.”
Meanwhile, National Security have arrested twelve Chinese and a Ghanaian in connection to the ECG missing containers.
The information gathered suggests the arrested person is linked to two aluminium smelting companies located in Shai Hills.
Cables, trusted to be part of the missing load, were traced to an aluminium smelter owned by the Chinese, located opposite the Shai Hills Game Reserve.
According to reports the cables were being melted into aluminium bars for export.
National security is also said to be on a manhunt for another Chinese on the run.
John Jinapor the energy minister has vowed to hold those responsible for the disappearance of over 1,347 containers belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) accountable.
According to him, he will stop at nothing to retrieve the missing containers, prosecute the perpetrators, and recover the cost incurred.
