Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, has disclosed donkeys are now used to smuggle subsidized fertilizer intended for the
Planting for Food and Job (PFJ) initiative across the border into neighbouring Burkina Faso.
The animals said, are loaded with the fertilizer and herded out of the country to their owners waiting on the other side of the border.
Hon. Eric Opoku disclosed these on Friday, March 10 when contributing to the Motion to thank the President for the Message on the State of the Nation that he presented to Parliament on Wednesday.
He indicated that a team of the Ministry of Agriculture that monitors the Planting for Food and Job initiative disclosed during a meeting with the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament that during one of their rounds, they encountered the donkeys carting fertilizers from Ghana to Burkina Faso.
He said, “Mr. Speaker, they don’t use cars anymore, they now use donkeys to smuggle our fertilizers to neighbouring countries. When we asked them why they did not arrest the donkeys, they said they had some difficulty; they were afraid and we asked them whether they reported the matter to the police…”
“This is a serious matter that fertilizers intended for planting for food and jobs are being smuggled through the use of donkeys.”
“I suggested to the Ministry whether it is not important for them to introduce a tracking system so that all donkeys in that enclave would be registered and given special numbers so that when we see a donkey carrying fertilizer you trace it to the owner of the donkey.”
“I made the suggestion to the Ministry they will not listen,” he added.
Mr. Eric Opoku questioned why the government should sit aloof for people to use donkeys to cart subsidized fertilizers to neighbouring countries at the expense of farmers in the country.
He questioned whether the government is afraid of those engaged in this illegal activity who may be part of the NPP administration and therefore unable to act.
Speaking on the subsidized fertilizer for the Planting of Food and Job, the member indicated that the government launched a programme under the initiative to make fertilizer affordable and announced it will pay 50% of the fertilizer cost so that farmers will bear the rest.
According to him, the government reneged on this promise and reduced the subsidy to just a paltry 15% of the cost adding, “So as we speak, the government is paying only 15% of the cost of fertilizer and having the poor peasant farmers to pay the 85%.