Atik Mohammed
A GROUP, Mass Action Committee, has called on Government to suspend the use of the UNIPASS software at the country’s ports.
According to the group, in a recent statement it issued signed by Atik Mohammed, its spokesperson, the UNIPASS software “is fraught with many technical and other challenges that have the propensity to give government a raw deal. And to that extent, we in the Mass Action Committee (MAC) are demanding of government to suspend the UNIPASS Ghana deal to allow for further due diligence and value for money analysis.”
The group continued that “the UNIPASS software is far from being qualified as an End –to-End system because it does not include a manifest platform. The Manifest Module constitutes the basic and first Customs Declaration Entry Point. Absent this Manifest Module, it is impossible to process any Declaration.”
“This defect therefore belies the claim that the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) is an all-in-one customs management solution. It is important to state that this obvious deficiency with the so called UNIPASS Ghana platform arises in large part from how the very software was developed.
It said although the technology was named UNIPASS Ghana by the Koreans from whom it was secured, “it is not the original UNIPASS software built by CUPIA. Indeed, their version appears very much like a carbon copy of WESTBLUE’s Declaration Platform.”
It added that the UNIPASS software developed and used in Korea unlike the Ghanaian version, “is a complete software with the capacity to handle the processing of all documents from Manifest Declaration to the Clearing of Goods.”
“The non-End-to-End capability of the UNIPASS system was exposed during the trials in Aflao, Tema and Takoradi. The system failed abysmally. Subsequent to this failure, Ghana lost GH¢66,000,000 in the first two days of implementation; thus, exposing the inability of the UNIPASS system to measure up to the standards of the GCNET Platform.
“It is also worthy of note that given the irredeemable tragedy that was occasioned by the inefficiency of the system during the test runs, a reluctant re-adaptation of the manual system of clearing goods was resorted to at the Aflao Border and Takoradi Port.”
It must be emphasized that the decision to obtain UNIPASS was founded on the expectation that it would be an improvement over the GCNET Platform and not worse than it. The unfortunate reverse outcome that was seen, was mainly because the system that was built on UNIPASS technology in Ghana by the Korean developers, had never been tested anywhere prior to its implementation in Ghana.
The group moreover indicated that beyond the worrying technical concerns with UNIPASS Ghana, there were also fundamental issues of private monopoly over Ghana’s major revenue source.
It said services provided WestBlue’s CCVR attracted a fee of 0.28 per cent, SML’s external price verification attracted 0.17 per cent while that of GCNet cost 0.40 per cent, all making 0.85 per cent.
“However, the new contract that entitled Ghana Link to provide UNIPASS, gave it complete control of all entry/exit points at a fee of 0.75% on the total C & F of all imports into the country.
“Meanwhile, under the erstwhile NDC administration, Ghana Link had been awarded a contract that gave them the sole responsibility of undertaking all scan activities at all entry points in Ghana (i.e. Tema Port, Takoradi Port, Aflao Border and Kotoka Airport among others) at a charge of 0.30% on the total C & F of all imports into the country.
“This implies that Ghana Link is now with UNIPASS, earning 1.05 of all C & F on imports into the country,” it said.
This is evidenced in UNIPASS’s fee of 0.75% and Ghana Link-Scan’s of 0.30%.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that if government allows the UNIPASS arrangement to stand, it would be perilously gambling with our revenue mobilization efforts with a system that is not end-to-end, has no proven record of performance anywhere and more significantly, will be breeding a monopoly; which situation poses a danger to revenue generation.
“We are therefore requesting government to suspend the UNIPASS arrangement to allow further consultations and due diligence in order to avoid revenue loss to the country in this all important revenue generation undertaking,” it stated.