Tussle over red mercury at Customs Service

There appears to be arm-twisting at the Customs, Exercise and Preventive Service (CEPS) over the sale of red mercury, which is expected to be auctioned very soon by the Service.

Investigations by “The Evening News” indicate that CEPS has a quantity of red mercury in its possession which several people have expressed interest in purchasing, but has no been made public yet. However, the process involve in the auction has put the Service in a questionable light. The tussle over the auctioning of the mercury by the Service has reached a level where the CEPS Commissioner as the final authority has decided on whether the auction should go ahead and to whom it must be auctioned.

Information gathered by “The Evening News” also indicates that the red mercury in question did not go to the Ghana Standards Board for testing, but was given to one of the buyers who has already expressed interest in it to go for its testing.

“The Evening News” can also reveal that the buyer whom the substance was given to for testing is said to be the one the CEPS Commissioner wants to purchase it and the one to whom Mr Kit Laryea, in charge of CEPS auctioning team had decided to give it to. It is also said that the laid down procedure for the auctioning of any item in CEPS possession has not been followed.

When the “The Evening News” contacted Mr Kit Laryea he confirmed the story and said CEPS has a quantity of red mercury but cannot disclose the value. He said for an item like the red mercury the Service does not make its auction public. According to him, there are about five people who have already expressed interest in buying the mercury. He told “The Evening News” that “even there is a memo before the Commissioner on the auctioning of the red mercury by CEPS but a decision is yet to be taken on it.”

When the paper contacted the CEPS Public Relations outfit for further clarification on the story, Ms Annie Anipa, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Public Relations confirmed that CEPS has some mercury in its possession but denied that it was red. She said what CEPS has is white mercury and that it was sent to the Ghana Standards Board for testing. Ms Anipa said mercury is one of the prohibited items, which cannot be sold to the public. “CEPS is not going to auction any mercury as it is speculated,” she said.

The officer in charge of the mercury investigation who could not give his name but spoke in the presence of the Evening News in the office of Ms Anipa also confirmed that CEPS has a quantity of mercury, but that it is not red but white. He said it had already been sent for testing at the Ghana Standards Board. He said mercury was one of the banned items, and therefore it cannot be auctioned public. He denied that there were moves by the Commissioner to auction the mercury in CEPS’ possession and refuted claims that some people have also expressed interest in its purchase.