West Blue, GCNet save Ghana ports as UNIPASS system fails to work

West Blue Consulting Limited and Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) both agreed to return to work and save the country from the two and a half days of revenue loss and a complete disruption in trade facilitation although a letter from Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo that directed them to shut down their systems is yet to be revoked.

Based on the Yaw Osafo-Maafo letter, both companies complied and shut down their trade facilitation systems at the country’s ports early Tuesday morning to make way for Ghana Link/UNIPASS to deploy its supposed superior systems but it ended up in a complete mess and chaotic situation at the ports as the UNIPASS system could simply not work.

“We were only told verbally to return to work to save the country from the embarrassment and disgrace and we complied because we are law abiding citizens. If no one had written to us to shut down, we would not have shut down.

“We stopped work based on a written directive from the Senior Minister Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo. But we have resumed operations based on a mere verbal directive and as we speak now, there is no letter revoking what the Senior Minister wrote, there is no contract telling us how long we would work if it is for one week, one month, three months or six months. We have no idea about the terms on which we are working but we decided to resume operations while negotiations continue because we have to save the situation”, a GCNet senior official told The New Publisher

The company’s Manager in Charge of Communications and External Relations at GCNet also confirmed to Kwame Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ that negotiations between the company and government was still underway and it was not certain how long they would be at work.

Meeting with Nana Addo

The New Publisher has picked signals that both GCNet and West Blue have made several efforts to meet with the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, over the entire development but all attempts have proved futile.

Their side of the story in the entire development is yet to reach the President and there are suspicions that the actual situation report is being shelved so as to favour the agenda to rush a takeover for Ghana Link/UNIPASS.

While the GCNet and West Blue side of the story is backed with verifiable facts and scientific data, the supposed superiority of the Ghana Link/UNIPASS systems has been backed with pure speculations and hypothesis.

It is clear by the public utterances of the ministers and deputy Ministers in charge of the Ghana Link/UNIPASS takeover that they have taken sides with the incoming company and have not stopped shopping for reasons why West Blue and GCNet must be done away with at all cost.

To be specific, Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen (whose ministry actually signed the Ghana Link/UNIPASS contract), Deputy Finance Minister Kweku Kwarteng and Deputy Trade Minister Carlos Ahenkorah have all not hidden their unrestrained effort to make sure UNIPASS takes over from GCNet and West Blue.

Meanwhile all their claims of the UNIPASS system being superior and can do better than the systems of West Blue and GCNet have proven to be inaccurate and completely different from the situation on the ground.

It is not clear the type of briefing they give the Vice President and the President on the crucial issues of revenue loss and trade facilitation but it is certain that if they had told the President the truth that Ghana Link/UNIPASS needs time to set up and a rushed takeover would lead to the disaster that happened at the ports last week, the situation would have been averted.

It is also curious that although almost all the relevant stakeholders are singing same chorus that Ghana Link/UNIPASS is not ready to take over and that a rushed takeover would lead to disruptions, the Osafo-Maafo led team alone is singing a different song even in the face of the embarrassing evidence Ghana suffered last week.

It is still uncertain how long GCNet and West Blue would be in operations.