Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South Constituency, Dr. Clement Apaak, has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s claim that Ghana, under his leadership now exports excess food to other countries, saying Ghanaian traders still import “common tomatoes” from neighboring Burkina Faso.
President Akufo-Addo, in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on January 5, 2020 stated that the introduction of the government flagship program ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ has made it possible for Ghana to export excess foodstuff to other countries.
He said the agricultural sector of the country has witnessed a dramatic turnaround because of the introduction of the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ policy as compared to years ago when according to him, farmers lived under unfavorable conditions; lacking basic foods to feed the country and for export.
But speaking to A1 Radio, Dr. Apaak noted that President Akufo-Addo was either misled or deliberately wanted to deceive the public.
According to him, the President should always do proper background checks of facts before speaking publicly on issues that concern the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
He said “Day in and day out, hundreds of trucks are usually spotted bringing tomatoes to Ghana from Burkina Faso. How can you say we no longer import food items; meanwhile common tomatoes we do import? Do your checks well.”
“I saw so many trucks carrying tomatoes from Burkina in December last year. I was in Paga at least three times between November and December 7, 2020. I saw the trucks. And on my way to Accra after the elections, I saw many, some from Kumasi and Techiman.”
He continued that “As for the shortage of onions, it’s obvious not only in the high cost in Upper East but even with higher cost in Accra and Kumasi. So why would you want to blindfold us like this with a policy that never saw the light of day? The planting for food and jobs never in any way helped farmers as peddled.”
Credit: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Moses Apiah|Ghana