Professor Ransford Gyampo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, has disclosed that although he is entitled to a government-provided bungalow, he opts to live on the University of Ghana campus and pay full commercial rent.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV monitored by MyNewsGh, Prof. Gyampo clarified that he remains a lecturer at the University of Ghana and is only on secondment to the Shippers’ Authority.
“I’m entitled to it but to the extent that I remain a teacher at the University of Ghana. Now I am paying for my accommodation on campus – commercial rate,” he said. When asked why he hasn’t taken up government housing, he explained, “I prefer to live on campus. I like the ambiance.”
Beyond personal living choices, the conversation pivoted to the regulatory role of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, particularly in mediating the ongoing tensions between freight forwarders and shipping lines. Prof. Gyampo acknowledged the fraught relationship between the two sectors, noting that the core issue revolves around profit and perceived exploitation.
“It’s about somebody wanting to make profit and others also feeling you are unnecessarily milking us dry,” he stated.
Under a new legal framework, Act 1122, the Shippers’ Authority now has the mandate to approve or disapprove port charges instead of merely negotiating them.
“Every year we write to the shipping lines and ask them to submit their charges. We compare them to what pertains elsewhere and ask for justifications,” he explained. “If their reasons are not convincing, we disapprove.”
This regulatory approach, he emphasized, also applies to other port stakeholders, including the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Minerals Commission, and even air freight service providers such as Swissport and Aviance.
“No one can unilaterally impose port charges without our approval,” Gyampo stressed, citing examples of charges that were either modified or blocked entirely following engagement with the Authority.
