The General Secretary of the Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAGG), Nana Poku, has raised concerns over the technical capacity of Truedare Investment Limited, the firm powering the Publican AI system at Ghana’s ports, claiming it is not an IT-based company.
Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Nana Poku alleged that the company lacks the infrastructure and expertise required to manage a system of such national importance.
According to him, Truedare does not have the technological backbone expected of a firm handling a digital customs platform, claiming the company operates with fewer than ten computers.
“We have handed over the country’s assets to such a company to handle,” he said, questioning the decision to entrust a critical national system to what he described as a non-technical entity.
He further alleged that the company was registered in Cyprus as a trading firm rather than an information technology company, arguing that it does not possess the necessary technological know-how to effectively manage the system.
Nana Poku also criticised political leadership, suggesting that decision-makers often underestimate public scrutiny, and claimed the introduction of the system may have been influenced by misleading projections about revenue gains.
His comments come amid ongoing debate over the Publican AI system, which government officials insist is a major reform aimed at improving efficiency and plugging revenue leakages at the ports.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has defended the system, explaining that it is designed to support customs decision-making in real time and strengthen revenue mobilisation.
He noted that the initiative is intended to address discrepancies in trade data and curb losses linked to undervaluation and illegal trade.
In November 2025, Parliament approved an agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Truedare Investment Limited to introduce a digital inspection solution to complement the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).
At a stakeholder engagement on January 16, 2026, Mr. Ampem Nyarko indicated that Ghana lost billions of cedis between 2020 and 2025 due to customs fraud, citing data suggesting that imports worth over US$127 billion were significantly undervalued.
He maintained that the Publican AI system would help sanitise the sector and improve revenue collection, despite growing concerns from sections of the trading community.
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