The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) will be relying on three witnesses to testify in a case in which four public officials have been formally charged with corruption in connection with a high-profile attempt to unlawfully acquire 10 containers of imported rice at the Tema Port.
The four accused persons, including James Keck Osei, 52, a former Director at the former Vice President’s (Dr. Bawumia’s) Secretariat, have all pleaded not guilty to a combined 11 counts of charges related to corruption of a public officer.
The rest are Issah Seidu, 53, a General Services Manager of National Insurance Commission/Businessman, and Customs officers John Abban, 61, and Peter Archibold Hyde, 61.
They are alleged to have conspired to seize the containers using forged documents and a falsified letter purporting to originate from the Office of the Vice President.
The rice in question was legally imported from Thailand in 2022, and all required duties had been duly paid. However, Seidu, with support from the other accused, attempted to secure the release of the containers through the Ghana Revenue Authority’s auction process under false pretenses.
The OSP argues that they have manipulated official processes with the aim of diverting the containers for their personal gain.
In court on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Adelaide Kobiri, a Principal Prosecutor at the OSP, said they have complied with the court’s orders to file their disclosures and witness statements.
She also indicated to the court that the prosecution would be relying on three witnesses to prove their case.
The defense lawyers, including George Bernard Shaw, confirmed receipt of copies of the prosecution’s processes, except to say they would need time to go through them with their clients.
Justice Ruby Aryeetey, the presiding judge, has adjourned the case to November 7, 2025, for a Case Management Conference. All accused persons were present in court.
*Brief Facts*
It was the case of the prosecution that, at the time of the events leading to this case in 2022, the first accused person, Issah Seidu, was a staff member with the National Insurance Commission, Accra, and a businessman.
The second accused person, James Keck Osei, was a public servant and the Director of Administration at the Secretariat of the Office of the former Vice President (Dr. Bawumia).
The third accused person, John Abban, was a Customs Officer at the rank of Principal Revenue Officer and an Investigator with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The fourth accused person, Peter Archibold Hyde, was a Customs Officer at the rank of Principal Revenue Officer and the Officer-in-Charge of the State Warehouse at Tema.
It said on November 20, 2021, the complainant entered into an agreement with Lek Group of Companies, the registered trademark owners of Lek rice, for permission to import ten thousand (10,000) bags of Lale rice from Thailand.
The goods were imported under the business name of Faithy Ventures.
The prosecution stated that the evidence would show that on December 24, 2021, the complainant paid Two Hundred and Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Seven United States Dollars (US$204,777.00) to Suwannaphum Rice Co. Ltd in Thailand for the ten thousand (10,000) bags through Standard Chartered Bank before the goods were shipped through Cosco Shipping Lines Company Limited (the shippers).
The complainant engaged the services of First Idea Clearing Company Limited at Tema to clear the goods for him.
*Bill of Lading*
It said on January 25, 2022, ten twenty-footer containers, each containing one thousand (1,000) bags of Lele rice, arrived at the Tema Port without the original Bill of Lading.
As a result, the clearing agent could not clear the goods on time. Owing to the delay in receiving the Bill of Lading, the Customs Division of GRA placed the goods on the Uncleared Cargo List (UCL) on February 18, 2022, and subsequently sent the goods to the State Warehouse, whereupon the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) was blocked to prevent any transaction in respect of the goods.
The complainant finally received the original Bill of Lading from the shippers in April 2022 and immediately applied for the ICUMS to be unblocked, allowing the goods to be assessed for duty at GH¢273,016.80.
He paid the assessed duty on April 8, 2022, using his Tax Identification Number (TIN), which was quoted on the Bill of Lading and also for all necessary documentation.
*Claims of Ownership*
After paying the required duty, the complainant was in the process of taking delivery of the goods when the first accused person, Issah Seidu, surfaced and claimed ownership of the same goods with an uncertified Bill of Lading containing the complainant’s TIN.
That was not all; he appeared wielding a letter from the Office of the Vice President signed by the second accused person, James Keck Osei, which requested the Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA to clear the ten (10) containers belonging to the complainant and others to be used to support the 2022 Ramadan festivities.
*Admission, No Verification, Auction*
It said James Keck Osei admitted that he wrote and signed the said letter without the knowledge, consent, and authorization of the Vice President (former VEEP). The first accused person also claimed that he imported the rice from Vietnam.
The fourth accused person, Peter Archibold Hyde, Officer-in-Charge of the State Warehouse at Tema, failed to verify the authenticity of the uncertified Bill of Lading presented by the first accused person, Issa Seidu, from ICUMS and Cosco Shipping Lines.
Peter Archibold Hyde, although aware that duty had been paid on the goods by the complainant with the very TIN number being wrongly claimed by the first accused, Issa Seidu, ignored proper procedure and caution and recommended that the ten (10) containers of Lele rice should be auctioned to the first accused person, Issah Seidu.
*Recommendation*
It said the recommendation for auction was rightly rejected by the Head of the Customs Auction Unit on the grounds that duty had been paid on the goods and they were therefore not available for auction.
Unsatisfied with the outcome, the matter was referred to the third accused person, John Abban, for investigation.
The second accused, through investigation, was able to establish that the complainant was the true owner of the goods with the original Bill of Lading, which indicated that the goods came from Thailand and not from Vietnam as claimed by the first accused person, Issah Seidu.
Although the second accused person, John Abban, was seized with the empirical evidence, he suppressed it and rather recommended to his superiors in his investigation report that the goods should be auctioned to the first accused person.
*Rush Registration*
On June 23, 2022, almost five months after the arrival of the goods in Ghana, the first accused, Issah Seidu, to aid his wrongful claim to the complainant’s goods, rushed to the Registrar General’s Department, Accra, to register Faithy Ventures in his name but with a different address and TIN as stated on the original Bill of Lading.
Unsatisfied with the happenings, the complainant escalated the matter to the Head Office of the Customs Division of GRA.
The matter was referred to Mrs. Hannah Acquah-Sampson, the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Post Clearance Audit, to resolve the issue of double claim of ownership of the goods.
*True Ownership*
It said after thorough investigations, she concluded that the complainant was indeed the true owner of the goods and the one in possession of the original Bill of Lading.
She convened a meeting with the parties and accordingly informed the first accused, Issa Seidu, that the complainant was the owner of the goods and that he should pay for the restoration of the status of the goods to enable him to take delivery.
The first accused, Issah Seidu, on realizing that his attempt to claim the complainant’s goods had woefully failed, filed a civil suit at the High Court, Accra, against the complainant and cited the GRA as a party ostensibly to prevent the latter from releasing the goods to the complainant.
After a full trial, the High Court decided against the first accused person and in favor of the complainant, that the containers of rice in question were imported from Thailand to Ghana by the complainant and that ownership was vested in the complainant and not the first accused person.
After investigations, the accused persons were charged with the offenses as stated on the charge sheet.
Source :www.kumasimail.com
