Former Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Richard Anamoo, has decisively debunked recent claims made by Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),
regarding the sale of the Tema Port to Meridian Ports Services (MPS) during the tenure of former President John Dramani Mahama.
In an exclusive interview with Kwabena Owusu Agyemang on The Final Point on Top FM, Anamoo urged the public to dismiss as “falsehoods” the narrative that soaring prices of imported goods are linked to the alleged sale of the port.
The former GPHA boss emphasized that such reports, which have gained viral attention, are baseless and misleading.
The controversy began when Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as ‘Abronye’, appeared in a studio interview where he claimed that President Akufo-Addo’s administration was unable to reduce taxes and duties at the port due to the government losing control of the facility.
According to Abronye, this was because former President Mahama had “sold” the port to a foreign company, MPS.
However, Anamoo, who served as the head of GPHA for several years, set the record straight, explaining that the Tema Port has never been sold.
Rather, it was leased under a concessional agreement dating back to 2001 during the presidency of John Agyekum Kufuor. Under this agreement, a significant portion of the port was handed over to MPS under a 20-year management concession, not a sale.
“Would we say President Kufuor sold the Tema Port?” Anamoo quizzed.
He further clarified that the creation of MPS was part of a strategic effort initiated in the early 2000s to expand the Tema Port, a project that began under the NDC government of Jerry John Rawlings.
“The NDC began the expansion project, which included securing a Dutch credit facility to fund the first phase,” he said.
“However, when President Kufuor took office, he did not continue the NDC’s initiative. Instead, he established MPS to manage the port, with GPHA retaining a 30% stake.”
Anamoo also took aim at what he described as the “propaganda” of certain elements within the NPP, accusing them of peddling false narratives each time they had access to a microphone.
He pointed out that similar claims had surfaced in 2021 but were debunked when it was proven that Mahama had not sold the port. “This has become a stock-in-trade for some in the NPP,” he said, “but these lies will not stick.”
On the specifics of the port’s management, Anamoo revealed that while MPS did take over management responsibilities from GPHA, it was not a sale of the port.
“Documentation clearly shows that the agreement was a concession, not a sale. No one, including John Dramani Mahama, sold the Tema Port,” he stressed.
Anamoo also provided details about the expansion of the port, noting that when President Mahama came to office, he simply amended the terms of the original concession, which had been due to expire in 2024.
“The initial agreement, made in the early 2000s, left just nine years before its expiration, and by 2015, MPS had only completed the construction of the terminal,” he explained.
Under the amended agreement in 2015, a new terminal was to be built, which would effectively expand the port with a deep-water quay, extensive reclamation of land, and dredging to accommodate larger vessels.
“The new facility was going to have up to 17 berths, but MPS only constructed four berths for their operations.
This is a far cry from a ‘sale’ of the port, as some have claimed,” he added.
In conclusion, Anamoo’s statements serve as a strong rebuttal to the claims made by Abronye and others within the NPP, reinforcing that the Tema Port remains under Ghanaian ownership and control, with MPS managing it under a long-term concession. “This is an ongoing partnership, not a sale,” he said.
