The Smuggling of rice must stop
Following the government’s recent ban on the importation of Asian rice across Ghana’s land borders, we have witnessed, rather surprisingly, a myriad of direct personal attacks and threats from certain persons – presumably affected by the move - on the Minister of Trade and Industry.
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Having watched this development critically from the day investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw exposed the incidence of high profile smuggling of rice at our western border, I would not shudder at all to declare that I do not envy the Minister, Haruna Idrissu, one bit - although I must confess that I am full of admiration for the man’s calm disposition in the face of the atrocious and obviously orchestrated attacks on his person and his ministry’s intentions for instituting the ban.
I also admire him for his apparent resolve to stand his ground not only to see the directive through but also to ensure that it yields the desired dividends.
Catch 22 debacle
For, as far as the smuggling of rice into Ghana is concerned, the Ministry of Trade and those who call the shots there may never be able to extricate themselves from the ‘Catch-22’ debacle in which previous inaction attracted widespread condemnation and yet, decisive action seems to put the ministry up on the stakes for drying or outright hanging, as we are seeing now.
As I have made clear already, I would not want to be in Mr Idrissu’s thorny shoes at this point in time.
Over the past three years, the Ministry of Trade and the government it works for, have suffered severe castigation from various quarters, including some food security agencies for ‘doing nothing’ or ‘not acting decisively’ to stop the unbridled smuggling of massive consignments of rice through Ghana’s land borders from countries that do not produce any rice – the Ghana- Cote d’Ivoire border being the most active in this business.
Each day, about 25 to 35 truckloads of rice cross over from various points along the Ghana- Cote d’Ivoire border alone in an illegal trade which involves the smuggling of over four million bags of rice a year.
Smuggled rice hits the local retail stands in a wide range of brands and grades; they usually come unchecked for quality but because they are not officially taxed, they sell way cheaper than rice imported through the conventional ports. It is no longer a surprise that the State loses a whooping GH¢ 69 million every year in evaded duty and tax.
Below the belt
After many attempts to curb rice smuggling at the borders failed, ostensibly through circumvention by smugglers and their agents, the government and the Ministry of Trade have been left with no choice but to limit the importation of the produce to the country’s official ports and harbours and practically shut off importation of rice through land borders from non-producer countries.
The flipsides of Mr Idrissu’s ‘Catch-22’ headache are that, while the ministry is being commended by revenue agencies, food security agencies, legitimate food importers and large sections of the general public for taking a bold step which will check smuggling, boost the indigenous rice cultivation industry and streamline the rice importation regime in the country, the minister has been targeted by those who are affected by the policy and since November 1, have singled him out for personal attacks, most of which, alas, are targeted way below the man’s belt.
Persons purporting to belong to a certain Ghana- Cote d’Ivoire Rice Importers and Sellers Association – a kind of interest group which surfaced just a day before the government enforced the ban on the importation of rice through non-producer neighbouring countries, have set the minister up as the very embodiment of their predicament and have resorted to using the media, including the Internet, to lambast the poor public servant.
Perhaps, the bit that raises eyebrows and spills the beans is their claim that the minister personally imposed the ban just to breed disaffection for the President and make him unpopular.
Now, this is when it suddenly dawns on you that harmless bowl of rice sitting on your dining table is far more dignified than you ever imagined! Mark that too much or too little of your rice could cause disaffection and even make you unpopular!
While I would resist stepping into the shoes of the minister at this point in time, I fully support his quest for a permanent solution to the problem of food smuggling on our western border.
Indeed, apart from the incentive of differentials in the duty regimes between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, and of course, the begging prospect of hauling in truckloads of rice at dolefully ‘mitigated’ cost, most of us still cannot understand why there should even be an argument for the importation of rice from Asia and insist on hauling it home through another African country that does not grow the produce.