The math of the “Reset” is beginning to look like a magic trick. One moment, 199 million litres of petroleum products are imported into Ghana; the next, they simply cease to exist.
This isn’t just a ledger error; it is a GHC 600 million heist. According to the 2025 petroleum products analysis report, an ocean of fuel has vanished from the books, leaving a trail of questions that lead straight to the doors of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
The “illegal dumping” industry is thriving under a government that promised to fix the leaks. While “re-exports” to Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo jumped from 524,603 to 658,500 metric tonnes, the reality on the ground is far more sinister.
The Anatomy of the Vanishing Act
The incentive for this theft is as old as the hills: tax evasion. In the Ghanaian fuel market, the rules are being bent until they snap:
- The Export Loophole: Products meant for the export market are legally free from taxation.
- The Dumping Game: Approximately 90% of these “export” products are reportedly dumped right back into the Ghanaian domestic market.
- The Tax Gap: A legitimate Ghanaian OMC pays roughly 50% in taxes on local sales; the “dumpers” pay zero.
The NPA, now headed by the NDC’s legal firebrand Edudzi Tamakloe, holds the keys to this kingdom. He granted the licenses to these export companies. He knows exactly who owns the trucks that are supposed to be crossing the borders but are instead emptying their loads into local filling stations.
The perplexity lies in the “unaccounted for” label. You do not lose 199 million litres of fuel like a misplaced set of car keys. You lose them because you have decided not to look.
Data from the industry suggests that while the government begs for “temporary relief” and reviews GHp 0.24 cuts to the Road Fund , they are ignoring a GHC 600 million leak that could fund the entire petroleum subsector’s sustainability.
Is Edudzi Tamakloe truly unaware of where these ghost litres went? Or is he simply managing the distribution of a GHC 600 million windfall that has landed in the pockets of political cronies?
The “Reset” promised to end the “loot and share” culture of the previous administration. Yet, the 2025 report reads like a manual on how to bleed a nation dry while claiming the blood simply evaporated.
May God save a country where the watchdog has not only lost its bark but is reportedly helping the burglars carry the safe out the door.
