Ghana Back To Acheampong Era As Gov’t Slaps Export Permit On Grains

The Akufo-Addo government has forwarded the country to the past as it resorts to an Acheampong-era-styled policy where the government has made it mandatory for exporters to now carry export permits for grains.

The permit, which reminds so much of the import permit under the ‘Kalabule’ regime of the erstwhile Ihgnatious Acheampong government of the 60s came into force in early February 2022.

That regime was infested with corruption that festered into ‘Kalabule’, the system in which traders issued import licenses, hoarded their imports to drive up prices through artificial scarcity to cause widespread penury and hunger.

In the case of the Akufo-Addo government, the export permits are to be issued by the Ministry of Trade and without it, exporters cannot export, just like pertained under the regime of Acheampong.

Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremanten, on 4th February 2022, directed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to demand export permits as a requirement from all maize exporters starting the 5th of February.

“His Excellency the President has granted executive approval for the introduction of measures to regulate the exportation of grains (including maize, rice and soya) to neighboring countries and beyond during the first quarter of 2022 (1st January to 31st March). As a result, we wish to formally inform you that export of all grains must be accompanied by an approved Export Permit Letter duly signed by the Minister responsible for Trade and industry effective Saturday, 5th February 2022, “the trade minister wrote.

The measure appears to be out of the fact that grains are increasingly becoming scarce in Ghana. In 2021 the country was hit by a maize shortage that saw corn dough selling at what some people described as “cocaine prices” for some time.

The shortages had driven food inflation. However, amidst the problem, the Akufo-Addo government had insisted that there was food abundance in the country because the Planting for Food and Jobs program had resulted in a bumper harvest.

While making that claim, however, the Ministry of Agric had secretly directed the Buffer Stock Company to import tonnes of maize to salvage the shortfall.

With Ghana’s politics so divisive and the Akufo-Addo government mired in institutionalized corruption, regime favoritism will likely lead to only NPP exporters getting permits to export grains – it is forward back to the past!