TAGG: Publican AI Could Cost Government Support Like E-Levy, Warns Nana Poku After GRA Meeting

The Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAGG) has cautioned government over the rollout of the Publican AI system at the ports, warning it could trigger political backlash similar to the E-Levy controversy.

Nana Poku, Secretary of TAGG, disclosed the outcome of a meeting with the Finance Ministry and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), on Kessben TV’s PUNCH, saying _“Politicians must be cautious of their policy implementation”_ referencing the E-Levy introduction. _“If the government is not careful, AI will send them to opposition just as E-levy did to the previous administration,”_ he warned.

According to Nana Poku, the Minister said _“AI is a support tool to CTSB”_. However, TAGG disputes claims about the system’s data sources. _“They have scented prices from net, they claimed some of their figures were generated from some companies — a big lie because no single data can capture all companies globally,”_ he said.

He alleged that officials _“solicited prices from Google and fed it to the system and commanded the AI to choose the highest price.”_

Poku accused the Commissioner of prioritizing revenue over economic relief. _“The Commissioner then turns back to the government and boast of high revenue gain forgetting about the promise made to the electorates to give them some reliefs,”_ he stated.

Despite the disagreements, some progress was made. _“We’ve seen some exemptions they want to give to pharmaceutical companies,”_ Poku noted. The meeting also secured a _“24H appeal system and were asked to form committee regarding the rest of our issues.”_

TAGG confirmed it has suspended its strike action because of the respect they accord to the government.

However, Poku revealed the impact of the standoff: _“No one has paid duties in the past 4 days, cargoes are being reshipped back.”_

The Finance Ministry and GRA have not yet issued a public response to TAGG’s statements on the Publican AI pricing model and the meeting outcomes.