KT Hammond, the minister of trades and industry nominee, has expressed displeasure over the importation of tripe, also known as “yemuadie” in Ghana.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, the MP for Adansi-Asokwa suggested that the importation of tripe and other goods into Ghana must cease.
The lawmaker lamented that millions of dollars are spent on the importation of tripe into the country adding that such importations put pressure on the local currency.
The MP 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 that have been 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, 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 opined that the country produces more than what it imports from other countries hence the government must sanitise the system.
“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,” the Trades Minister-designate suggested.
If he sails through the vetting, the MP will replace Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto who resigned from Ministry to pursue his presidential ambition.