- Publican AI Faces Fresh GUTA Backlash Over Process and Politics
The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations has widened its criticism of the Publican AI system introduced at the country’s ports, arguing that the issue is not only about the merits of the technology itself but also about how the system was conceived, communicated, and pushed forward.
In two separate interventions on Joy FM Super Morning Show and JoyNews, GUTA officials said key stakeholders were not properly consulted before the rollout and alleged that the process reflects a deeper pattern in which political actors use changes at the ports to advance partisan interests.
Benjamin Yeboah, GUTA’s Director of Welfare, said the association first became aware of Publican AI when it was mentioned in the 2026 budget statement by the finance minister. According to him, the explanation at the time was that the AI system would be deployed to monitor valuations and detect the misclassification of imported goods, amid concerns that the state was losing revenue through improper declarations.
“We got here when last year the Minister for Finance, in his 2026 budget, mentions the deployment of the AI system at the port to check on valuations and possibly misclassifications,” Yeboah said. He added that the minister’s broad message was that “people were ripping off the government” and that revenue was being lost because some importers were “not declaring properly”.
Mr Yeboah said GUTA then sought engagement with the ministry, believing that a system of such significance should involve the direct participation of major trading stakeholders. “We thought it wise that we all know what AI is… so let’s approach the ministry and see how best we can sit down with them, because as major stakeholders, we should know how the deployment will be,” he said.
But the association says that process moved too slowly and too late. He said repeated efforts to secure a meeting yielded results only in February 2026, months after the budget announcement, and by then GUTA was told that a pilot was already under way. We kept trying and finally got a chance to meet with them in February,” he said. “They were made to know that they’ve actually started a pilot.”
That sequence has become central to GUTA’s complaint. In its telling, the issue is no longer just whether Publican AI can help the ports. It is whether a system intended to influence valuations and customs processes should have moved into the pilot stage before the main users of the port system were properly briefed and heard.
The criticism took on a sharper political edge when Richard Amamoo, GUTA’s Secretary-General, accused those behind the rollout of using the system to reward political allies. He said the pattern resembled a familiar practice in which new governments seek to stamp their authority on the ports by installing favoured actors under the guise of reform. “It is a point where politicians try to announce their presence at the port, that we have come to power, and let us bring our cronies to bring the system, and in a heist they will implement it before stakeholders’ engagement,” he said.
Mr Amamoo also questioned the credentials of the private company behind the system, saying its short operating history undermined confidence in its ability to manage such an important national platform. “When you look at the developer of the Public AI we are discussing today, it was registered in December 2024, with no experience, nothing,” he said.
His argument was not that digital upgrades are inherently unwelcome, but that any such reform must be credible, gradual, and properly discussed with those expected to bear its commercial consequences. “If it must be done, it should be done well, so you cannot just come, bring some system or in the name of an upgrade to come and destroy the other entity,” he said.
Both officials tied their objections to a broader concern about trade costs. GUTA maintains that reforms at the ports should be designed first to improve trade facilitation and reduce burdens on importers, rather than to introduce new uncertainty into an already expensive operating environment.
The growing intensity of the group’s public criticism suggests that the fight over Publican AI is moving beyond technical implementation and into a wider dispute over trust, process, and control. What began as a policy tool to tighten valuations and curb revenue leakage is now being challenged as a reform whose legitimacy has been weakened by late consultation and allegations of political favouritism.
That leaves the rollout facing a more difficult test than simple deployment. For the system to gain acceptance among traders, it may need not only to show that it can improve customs oversight but also to overcome the growing belief among some stakeholders that it was introduced in a way that excluded them from a process that will directly shape their cost of doing business.
