Akuapem North Member of Parliament Sammy Awuku has demanded a full account of how the vessel MV Sankofa was handled by Ghanaian maritime authorities.

The legislator questioned its seaworthiness, registration, penalties imposed by the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) and its eventual clearance to leave the country.

In a Facebook post shared on Monday, August 31, Mr Awuku said the Ghana Navy intercepted MV Sankofa off Axim on July 22, 2025, while its Automatic Identification System (AIS) was switched off.

He said a GMA inspection report dated July 27, 2025, subsequently identified serious deficiencies, including the absence of 14 statutory certificates. The vessel, he added, had no oil record book, garbage record book or sewage holding tank.

The MP further claimed that São Tomé and Príncipe, whose flag the vessel purported to fly, denied ever registering it. According to Mr Awuku, the GMA consequently concluded that MV Sankofa was not seaworthy.

Mr Awuku said the GMA initially imposed a US$1 million statutory penalty in its cedi equivalent, but later waived the penalty after a subsequent inspection reportedly found no evidence that the vessel had been trading in Ghana.

He argues that the explanation does not address the wider circumstances surrounding the vessel's presence in Ghanaian waters.

“Whether the vessel was trading is not the only relevant question,” Mr Awuku said, demanding documentation showing the legal basis on which MV Sankofa entered Tema Fishing Harbour, moved to Tema Anchorage, operated within Ghanaian waters and was eventually allowed to leave.

He also questioned whether the vessel's movements could simply be justified as innocent passage, arguing that passage under international maritime law is generally required to be continuous and expeditious, with stopping or anchoring permitted only in limited circumstances.

If the vessel was operating under another form of clearance or authorisation, he said, the GMA should disclose the legal basis for it and explain why the US$1 million penalty was waived despite the inspection findings and doubts surrounding the vessel's registration.

Mr Awuku said MV Sankofa was allowed to leave Ghana on November 14, 2025, reportedly under Cameroonian registration.

He further claimed that the vessel was later detained in Senegal in connection with a drug investigation and was reportedly flying the Ghanaian flag at the time.

The MP wants authorities to establish who authorised the vessel's departure and what evidence was relied upon to determine that its seaworthiness, pollution-control and registration deficiencies had been resolved.

Mr Awuku has also raised questions about an apparent discrepancy in the pollution-related penalties.

He said the GMA's inspection report recorded the penalties at US$139,200, while an RTI response dated June 12, 2026, reportedly put the figure at US$79,200.

The difference of US$60,000, he said, remains unexplained and should be reconciled.

The MP has therefore identified three key questions for the authorities: the precise legal basis or decision that authorised the US$1 million penalty waiver; the reason for the US$60,000 difference in the pollution-related figures; and the identity of the person who authorised MV Sankofa's departure, together with the evidence used to establish that its deficiencies had been resolved.

Mr Awuku said he would write to Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe, who has responsibility for the GMA, as well as the Authority's Governing Board.

He intends to request the legal opinion, Board decision or other authority supporting the penalty waiver, a full reconciliation of the pollution-related penalties, the identity and office of the official who authorised the vessel's departure, and the inspection and clearance records relied upon before it was permitted to sail.

He also plans to write to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) over concerns about the vessel's purported registration.

Mr Awuku said a situation in which a vessel claims to sail under a flag that the named state says it never granted could raise concerns about fraudulent registration, while the inspection findings also warrant scrutiny under international maritime safety and pollution-control standards.

He argued that the matter should not be treated solely as a domestic regulatory issue, particularly given the vessel's reported subsequent appearance under the Ghanaian flag in connection with its detention in Senegal.

“A vessel found unseaworthy, unable to establish the validity of its flag and missing essential statutory and pollution-control documentation should not pass through Ghana’s regulatory system without a complete and documented explanation of how it was cleared to leave,” he wrote.

Mr Awuku called for openness and accountability, stating: “Transparency is the minimum. Accountability must follow.”