Professor Ransford Gyampo is suspecting that the policy to ban importation of certain commodities may be stemming out of hatred for Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, the former Trade and Industry minister.
Despite admitting that the initiative is good to generate revenue for the Ministry, the political science lecturer thinks it was developed to replace certain revenue avenues that were blocked as a result of hatred for the former head of the ministry.
Speaking on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, November 25, 2023, Prof. Gyampo said government cannot reintroduce some of the things they suspended at Alan Kyerematen’s time due to the backlash that would come with it.
“What I’m also suspecting is that KT Hammond is looking for a way to get money for his ministry, it’s okay. [But] there were so many initiatives at that ministry that I’m sure got withdrawn as a result of hatred for Alan Kyerematen.
“Now sending those initiatives back to that ministry will look too obvious and so then let this man resort to other means to get money. You’re not going to get money from this shady and comic intervention,” he told host, Alfred Ocansey.
He has, meanwhile, advised government to make proper preparations before rolling out the policy to avoid a possible jeopardy.
The Minority in Parliament has already kicked against the LI saying several loopholes in it must be addressed before laying it.
Products like animals’ intestines, rice, chicken, oil, sugar, amongst others were part of the items government didn’t want them imported into the country.
Prof Gyampo, supporting the Minority’s stance said “you must prepare before you begin to ban importations of these things. You must ensure that the local economies would be able to manufacture locally before you ban.”
He explained that government must encourage local production by giving incentives to ensure that “rice for instance, we can produce enough to feed us.”
According to him, government being the largest buyer of rice should ensure that he buys local rice for all the school feeding programmes to feed the children and encourage the ministries, departments and agencies to also purchase these locally manufactured products.
“If it’s vehicle, empowering Kantanka to produce more and insist that all the MMDCEs purchase from him and then in that case they enjoy economies of scale so that the local products become cheaper than the imported ones,” he pointed out.
The political science lecturer added that the fact that one minister has to solely decide as to whom a license should be given to import a product or not is an avenue to breed corruption.
“It’s an unnecessary arrangement for corruption that must not be countenanced,” he added.
Prof. Gyampo also described the move as a comedy.
“The governance or managing a developing economy like that of Ghana is not a matter of comedies it’s a serious business.
“This LI and the attempt to smuggle it in, and I saw KT Hammond the way and manner he was going about this in Parliament then I said ‘this man, he doesn’t know what’s up!’
“If you want to do this, you should have started from day one. You do not wait till the last minute of your tenure and then you say that you want to introduce something that should have taken you the whole period of 8 years to prepare to do,” the Professor espoused.
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