By: Austin Ofori Addo:
Some traders of livestock and poultry birds based at Madina Turaku in Accra have accused the police of being a thorn in their flesh. The traders who rear and import the animals such as goat, sheep, poultry and guinea fowls from Ghana’s northern neighbours, Burkina Faso as well as from the northern parts of the country have accused the police of extorting huge monies from them in the course of transporting the animals along the country’s major routes.
The traders who said they numbered over fifty told this reporter that the huge monetary demands have taken a toll on their business. ‘The police always harass us. We always hold all genuine documents covering our trade but they always demand and take huge monies from us without issuing us with any documents.’ Ibrahim Seidu, a distraught trader told Rite news.
The disgruntled traders told Rite news that failure to yield to the demands of the police have always resulted in unnecessary delays which sometimes led to the death of the animals. ‘From Paga through Bolga, Bawku, Tamale through Techiman to Kumasi, one is harassed into parting with huge money,’ the traders added.
According to them, they are compelled to sell the animals at such high cost due to all these charges that they incur. Goats sell as high as between Gh c 200 and Gh c 400 while the price of sheep also range between Gh c 800 and Gh c 1000, a situation they attribute to the extortions.
The sellers therefore called for the intervention of the minister of agric and his deputy to intervene while also demanding that monies taken from them by the police be properly documented and accounted for.
