The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has directed the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to submit an Integrity Plan by March 31, 2026, following revelations that a private company collected disinfection fees at Ghana’s ports and retained the proceeds in its own accounts.
The directive follows a corruption risk assessment completed last month, which found that LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited held on to revenues due the state without adequate oversight or accountability.
In its Half-Yearly Report covering July 2025 to December 31, 2025, the OSP disclosed that the arrangement cost the state an estimated GH¢345 million. This figure includes about GH¢25 million in Value Added Tax (VAT) collected from port users but not paid to the government.
According to the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, the assessment revealed that LCB was granted an exclusive nationwide monopoly to provide disinfection services at all ports of entry. Under the arrangement, the company charged importers and exporters directly, kept the proceeds in private accounts, and unilaterally determined how much to remit to state agencies.
“The corruption risk assessment concluded that the arrangement presents material corruption vulnerabilities across legal authority, procurement, fee setting, financial flows, institutional oversight, competition, transparency and public health outcomes,” Mr Agyebeng stated in the report.
He described the situation as an “immense systemic corruption risk” and called for urgent corrective measures.
As part of immediate actions, the OSP has ordered the suspension of all payments to LCB pending a forensic audit and directed the company to stop collecting and retaining fees and other revenues in its private accounts. The Ghana Revenue Authority has also been tasked to supervise LCB’s tax obligations and recover any outstanding taxes.
The Ghana Health Service has been given until March 31, 2026, to submit its Integrity Plan, detailing corrective actions and a restructuring of the ports disinfection programme to prevent abuse while improving transparency and accountability.
The report explained that the business model allowed LCB to charge all importers and exporters at the ports, retain receipts in private accounts, make discretionary payments to state institutions, and submit operational reports without independent verification.
According to the OSP, the arrangement effectively handed control of public revenue to a foreign private company without a clear oversight or accountability framework.
The OSP estimates that its intervention has saved the state approximately GH¢345 million, including GH¢120 million in avoided costs, GH¢25 million in VAT and statutory revenue preserved or expected to be recovered, and GH¢200 million in future losses averted.
The report stressed that any future arrangement must be regularised through lawful and transparent processes, supported by robust financial, technical and governance controls. The OSP’s Half-Yearly Report was released on Thursday, January 29, 2026.
