President John Dramani Mahama on Monday declared smuggling, counterfeiting, and the re-bagging of inferior products as acts of economic sabotage, warning that his administration will treat such practices as serious economic crimes and pursue those responsible without leniency.
The President made the declaration at the Presidential Dialogue with the Private Sector, held at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra on Monday, February 23, 2026, an event he described as part of a pledge to institutionalise annual structured engagement between government and business to jointly resolve constraints to commercial growth.
The statement followed the interception earlier in the day of articulated trucks suspected of involvement in a transit diversion and revenue evasion scheme along Ghana’s borders, uncovered during an enforcement operation by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The trucks had been declared as carrying transit goods destined for Niger through Kulungugu, but checks revealed that some were moved without the mandatory customs escort required for transit cargo.
Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem confirmed that the President demanded an immediate briefing the moment the inspection team returned from the border. Ampem said the President was deeply upset and that no individual implicated in the scheme would be treated with leniency. He added that the government intends to reward officers who demonstrated integrity during the operation, while ensuring that those found culpable face appropriate sanctions.
Speaking to the wider economy at the dialogue, President Mahama acknowledged visible signs of recovery, pointing to currency stabilisation, stronger investor sentiment, improved business confidence, and new private capital entering manufacturing and processing as early indicators of progress. He attributed the improvements to fiscal consolidation, value added tax (VAT) rationalisation, and the removal of distortionary levies. However, he cautioned against complacency, stressing that macroeconomic stabilisation alone does not constitute structural economic transformation and that Ghana must pursue deeper industrial reform to build a resilient and competitive economy.
He set a target for manufacturing to contribute 15% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, and reinforced that government could not achieve transformation in isolation. “The government cannot achieve transformation alone, and equally, the private sector cannot thrive without a government that listens, reforms, and creates an enabling environment,” he said.
