Dr. Joseph Obeng, president of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), has lamented the selling of food at the Agriculture Ministry.
Foods are now being sold directly on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s property.
The food items, which were previously only sold to civil servants and members of local government, are now available to the general public.
The Ministry states that the foods will be offered at set pricing.
The action aims to protect Ghanaians and lessen the effects of rising food costs.
Before the sale begun, the Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto reiterated government’s intention to transport food from the rural production areas to Accra in a bid to deal with rising food inflation.
The members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) who seem displeased with the development have expressed their frustrations.
Speaking in an interview with the host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive, the President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng said the sale of the foodstuffs at the Agric Ministry is unfair to traders in general.
Dr Joseph Obeng asked the Ministry to consider adding a system to add value to the foodstuffs to make the program sustainable.
He described the comparison of prices at the Ministry of Agric and the various markets as unfair.
“These are market women who travel miles and pick over 5 cars to go and get foodstuffs at reasonable prices for the consuming public.” These women lose their capital in the process because when the vehicles conveying the foodstuffs get stuck in the course of the journey, the foodstuffs start to decay. “It’s unfair to compare the prices at the Ministry considering the fact that the Ministry already has vehicles and a proper transport system to convey the foodstuffs,” Dr. Joseph Obeng told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.
