When Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor announced in March that more than 1,300 containers belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had “vanished into thin air,” Ghanaians were alarmed. His statement carried the weight of scandal. Newspapers ran with it, radio shows boiled with outrage, and the story quickly turned into a political storm.
Months later, however, the same containers reappeared. A joint investigation involving National Security, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Customs, and the Ministry of Transport reported that 2,637 containers were actually at the port. They had not been stolen. They were sitting in various terminals, some for years, because ECG had failed to clear them.
This is where the problem lies. If the containers were never stolen, why has the Minister not told Ghanaians clearly that what he first called “missing” was in fact the result of administrative failure?
A shifting story
The facts show that the Minister acted when he received a 103-page report from a committee he himself set up. That report said 1,357 containers were unaccounted for. The Minister went public immediately, calling in the Attorney General and the Police. His urgency was understandable. But his words framed the matter as theft rather than negligence.
When the more comprehensive joint investigation later produced a clearer picture, the Minister did not address Ghanaians with the same energy. This silence has left the impression that he was quick to dramatize the problem but hesitant to explain the correction. His supporters argue that he was busy with international duties, such as speaking at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston and later at the Future of Energy Conference in Accra. Yet this does not erase the fact that he created a national panic but has not fully closed the loop.
The real cost
The containers were not just numbers on a list. They held critical equipment like electrical cables and meters, badly needed for Ghana’s fragile energy sector. Instead of being deployed, these items were left to gather dust at the port. Over 2,400 containers had overstayed the 60-day clearance period, attracting heavy demurrage fees. These charges drained ECG, a company already struggling with debts.
Meanwhile, Ghanaians endured power cuts. Businesses lost money. Households relied on generators. The scandal was not only about poor record keeping. It translated into real suffering.
Systemic rot
The investigations revealed more troubling facts. ECG had discontinued a dedicated fund that was used to clear shipments, claiming it lacked money. Contracts were given to firms without licenses. The procurement department was strangely merged with the Housing and Estates unit. The head of procurement had no professional training.
This was not an isolated mess. Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has also admitted that Customs lost GH₵1.6 billion in expected revenue in the first half of 2025 because of leakages and smuggling. The ECG case is therefore part of a much wider breakdown in state institutions.
The unanswered questions
Why did ECG allow containers to sit at the port for years? Who signed off contracts for unqualified companies? How much has been paid in demurrage fees? And above all, why has the Minister not given Ghanaians a full, transparent account of how a tale of “theft” turned into one of bureaucratic negligence?
Civil society voices such as IMANI’s Kofi Bentil warned from the start that the containers were misplaced, not missing. Former ECG boss Samuel Dubik Mahama said the same. They have now been proven right. Their consistency puts pressure on the Minister to explain why his initial framing was so different.
Time to speak plainly
Ghanaians do not expect perfection from their leaders. They expect honesty. Minister Jinapor must speak directly to the nation. He must admit that his early words overstated the case. He must show the full financial cost of the delays and the names of those who failed in their duties. He must also lay out the reforms that will stop this from happening again.
Anything less will feed suspicion that the scandal was politicised from the start and managed quietly to avoid embarrassment.
The containers may have been found, but the truth about how the state runs its institutions is still missing. The Minister should know that silence is not an option. Ghanaians are waiting for answers.
