Minority raises issues with deployment of military to enforce grain export ban

The Minority in Parliament has raised issues with the deployment of the military to border towns across Ghana to enforce the ban on the export of grain from Ghana in the wake of the drought-induced crop failures in the northern and middle belts of Ghana.

According to the Minority, the deployment of the military without any timelines and broader consultations with stakeholders raised several questions and suspicions.

It said neither the Minister of Food and Agriculture nor the Defence Minister who announced the ban and deployment adduced any evidence to establish the inability of the Immigration and Customs services to enforce the prohibition and questioned the involvement of the military.

“The Immigration Service is statutorily empowered to manage and patrol the country’s borders as a first line of defense. The Customs Service, on the other hand, compliments the Immigration service in the exercise of its preventive functions along our borders,” James Agalga, Minority spokesperson on Defence and Interior said when he addressed the press on Friday.

Suspicion 

The Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, said, “any attempt to deploy the military when there is no evidence to show that the Immigration and Customs services will be overwhelmed in the enforcement of the ban on the exportation of grain heightens our suspicions.”

“Indeed, the government should be mindful of the cost of military deployment along the borders because it could be more than the value of grains they wish to protect within the country.”

“We expect the government to engage stakeholders and consult broadly. Whatever it is, the government should leave the military out of its political games,” he said.