Minister-Designate for Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has expressed concerns over the importation of tripe popularly known as “yemuadie” from other countries to Ghana.
According to him, the millions of dollars spent on importing tripe into the country puts pressure on the local currency.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, the Adansi-Asokwa lawmaker asked, “why is it that everything you can think about is being imported into the country? These importations have terrible effects on our foreign exchange reserves. I think it’s about time we took a serious look at this particular issue. I’m told a committee was put up by cabinet to deal specifically with this matter.”
He added, “When I looked at some of the issues raised, I was scandalised. I’m told it’s being decided at that level [cabinet] that we should be looking at about 50 specific areas. I’m scandalised at what appears to be in paragraph 4, is that what we are importing to Ghana? We are importing guts, bladders, and stomachs of animals to Ghana to complement our foods. And that alone totalled about one hundred and sixty-four million, five hundred and seventy-five thousand plus some hundreds of dollars[the year under review]. I thought this is a little bit of a scandal. It’s not only this, but this is what I find scandalising”.
He said the government needed to sanitise the system since the country produces more than what it imports from other countries.
“There are other things on the list, such as rice and beverage. I happened to find out that we were smuggling rice into the country without disclosing it. Because if you look at how much we produce locally and how much we consume, and you do the subtraction, there’s a gap of about 500-600 metric tons which we consume that are not accounted for in the system.
“There are other ones too, second-hand clothing, vehicles, there are quite a lot that government feels should ensure some sanity in the system,” he suggested.
If approved, the MP will replace Alan Kyerematen, who resigned from the ministry to pursue his presidential ambition.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to merge some ministries and reduce the number of staffers under his leadership.
The Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson raised issues with government expenditure at a presser on Monday, February 20.