The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has directed the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to submit an Integrity Plan by March 31, 2026, following findings that a private company collected disinfection fees at Ghana’s ports and retained the proceeds in its private accounts.

The directive follows a corruption risk assessment completed last month, which revealed that LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited held on to revenues meant for the state without effective oversight.

In its July 2025 to December 31, 2025 Half-Yearly Report, the OSP disclosed that the arrangement cost the state an estimated GH¢345 million, including GH¢25 million in Value Added Tax (VAT) collected from port users but not paid to the government.

The Special Prosecutor, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, said the assessment showed 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, retained the proceeds in its own accounts, and determined how much to transfer 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 said in the report.

He described the situation as posing an “immense systemic corruption risk” and called for urgent corrective action.

As immediate measures, the OSP has ordered the suspension of all payments to LCB pending a forensic audit and directed the company to stop holding and retaining fees and other revenues in its private accounts.

The Ghana Revenue Authority has also been tasked to exercise oversight over LCB’s tax obligations and to recover any unpaid taxes.

The Ghana Health Service has been given until March 31, 2026, to submit its Integrity Plan, outlining corrective actions and a reorganisation of the ports disinfection programme to prevent abuse and improve transparency and accountability.

The report explained that the business model allowed LCB to charge every importer and exporter at the ports, keep all receipts in its own accounts, make partial payments to state institutions at its discretion, and submit operational reports without independent verification.

According to the OSP, the arrangement effectively placed control of public revenue in the hands of a foreign private company without a clear system of oversight or accountability.

The OSP estimates that its intervention has saved the state about GH¢345 million, comprising 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 strong financial, technical and governance controls.

The OSP’s Half-Yearly Report was released on Thursday, January 29, 2026.