Paul Kwabena Amaning, the president of the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG), has told the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to expand its investigations into the alleged corruption scheme involving the diversion of 50 20-foot containers of palm oil valued at GH₵25.8 million.
According to the OPDAG, the OSP must expand its ongoing anti-corruption investigations to involve Customs officers who own two or more houses.
He argued that the investigation of these customs officers will unravel a potential syndicate linked to the diversion and smuggling of oil Palm.
Paul Kwabena Amaning detailed that nearly 90 per cent of oil currently on the Ghanaian market is smuggled, arguing that the situation threatens the Mahama government’s commitment proposed US$500 million Oil Palm Development.
The OPDAG President is quoted to have said, “It is normal because these people who are agents, in fact, it’s a syndicate, that the main customs who are responsible to make sure that our borders are very secure for people to bring in this, they are not doing their work at all because they aid and abet with those criminals, these market women, the importers, to find means to bring the oil.
“I know His Excellency John Dramani Mahama has a good intention to invest close to $500 million into the industry. But with all this intervention, if we cannot sell because the tax component on the product makes our oil, the local oil price very high. So we are not competitive at all in terms of price,” Paul Kwabena Amaning said.
“But we keep on drumming and drumming about this issue. Nobody was coming to our aid. Now the special prosecutor is saying that he’s going to do ABCD. Please, he should go deep down and investigate every customs officer who has two or three or four houses, how they came about those houses. They need to go deep down with it. That will solve this problem,” he added.
His remarks follow, the OSP announced that it has initiated a probe into an alleged corruption scheme involving the diversion of 50 20-foot containers of palm oil valued at GH₵25.8 million.
On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the OSP detailed that the shipment had originally been declared as goods in transit to Burkina Faso.
However, the consignment was unlawfully diverted into the local market in Ghana without the payment of the required duties and taxes.
According to the OSP, preliminary findings point to the involvement of some Customs officers, National Security operatives, and clearing agents with the scheme, causing an estimated loss of GH₵10.5 million in tax revenue to the state.
In a statement issued on X, the OSP wrote, “The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is investigating suspected corruption involving the diversion of fifty(50 twenty-foot containers of palm oil valued at GHS25.8 million.
The consignment, declared as in transit to Burkina Faso, was unlawfully diverted into the local market without payment of applicable duties and taxes.
The Office has identified the involvement of some Customs officers, National Security operatives, and clearing agents in a corrupt scheme that resulted in an estimated loss of GHS10.5 million in taxes.
The Office commenced the investigation on the back of an intelligence-led operation conducted in November 2025.
As the process continues, the Office remains committed to protecting the public purse and upholding integrity”.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has interdicted five customs officers with immediate effect, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into potential procedural breaches uncovered during a recent enforcement operation.
On Tuesday, February 24, in a press release issued, the GRA detailed that the five officers, following preliminary findings, were linked to the procedural breaches of a transit cargo operation bound for Niger.