The Ghana Federation of Livestock Inter-Professionals (GHAFLIP), a group of business men involve in livestock trade between Ghana and Burkina Faso, has decried the truama their members go through in the hands of security personnel stationed at borders and check points when send their livestock from Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso to the Southern parts of Ghana.
According to the Federation; security personnels demand outrageous amount of money from them anytime they are transporting livestock, this makes their business suffer a great set back.
Speaking to A1 news after a two day Bilateral Capacity Building Workshop For Livestock Trade Actors Operating At The Burkina-Ghana Borders, held at Navrongo, the general secretary of Ghana Federation of Livestock Inter-Professionals (GHAFLIP), Alpha Boly Mohammed said the extortion at the borders and check points poses negative effect on their business.
He said “there are lots of police barriers on the road. If you are moving from Burkina Faso to Accra, you meet over fifty barriers on the road and each barrier you are stopped. You know these are live animals that are in a big truck, so if you stand for over 30 munites, air does move in the truck and the animals end up dying. This means you are killing his business.”
Mr. Boly added that ” there are a lot of extortion. Every barrier you reach, you have to pay some amount of money. It’s very difficult. Sometimes from Paga to Accra you spend about Ghs3,000.00 transporting your animals to the market. It’s not helping us. When you do this, you do this, it makes the meat in the market become expensive and people can not buy.”
The president of GHAFLIP Alhaji Moro Akakade has therefore called on government to come to their aid in order to salvage their business from collapsing.
According to the Alhaji Moro, his members go for loans to engaged in the business hence delaying tracks loaded with livestock on the way where some of the animals die in the process, has a negative effect on their business.
He said “the government should come to our aid and call on the security personnel to allow our people transport their livestock freely. They should know that livestock is not like maize, when you delay on the way the animals will die. Each check point they get to when the security personnel check their documents, they should allow them to go through. One cow value more than Ghc4,000, so if you are conveying more than 35 cattle to southern part of the country and along the road you lose more than two of them you are losing about Ghc 8,000.00 to Ghc 15,000.00. Assume you went to the bank for a loan, and Ghc15,000.00 is out of that loan will you be able to pay back that loan?”
Mr. Akolgo Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Akodaniel ventures, dealer in livestock trade and transportation said the workshop has enlightened him on some of the documentations processes which will help his business.
The Bilateral capacity building workshop for livestock trade actors operating at Ghana-Burkina Border was organized by Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project in Collaboration with GHAFLIP to bring together all the security personnel in both Ghana and Burkina Faso to deliberate on how to facilitate easy transportation of livestock between the two countries.
Personal from Costume Excite and Preventive services (CEPS), Vertenary service from both Ghana and Burkina Faso, Ghana Police Service, Immigration Services, Africa Sahel cattle and Small Ruminants including other stakeholders in livestock trade from Ghana and Burkina Faso took turns to educate participants on the necessary documentations and important training to help improve the livestock business.
Source :Fiilafmonline/ A1Radioonline.
