Ketu South: Residents appeal for support as they go ‘hungry’ over border closure

Residents at the Ketu South District in the Volta Region who engage in cross-border trading activities are calling for urgent intervention following the closure of Ghana’s borders.

According to them, the continued closure is adversely affecting their economic lives.

One of the border residents in Ketu South, Vincent Adzogah who spoke to Citi News said the halt in trading activities as a result of the closure is bringing untold hardship on them.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of problems for us here at the borders especially, the women whose livelihoods depend on trade from Togo. That is what they do to make ends meet. So the closure of the entry points means that these people no longer cross to Togo. So there is pressure mounting on them to make ends meet. So I want the government to come to our aid in the sense that if it is even a bag of maize, it will be given to them. It is not COVID-19 that is going to kill people along the border, it is the hunger that will kill them.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border closure measures in the country, the import and export chain has been severely disrupted and the associated businesses have also been affected hugely.

Ghana has shut its borders for well over six weeks to ensure that there is no risk of importation of COVID-19 into the country.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo about a week ago extended the closure for two more weeks.

Closure of borders

The fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak in Ghana has called for stringent measures to prevent its spread, which includes the closure of borders to stop the imports of the disease into the country.

Ghana announced new travel protocols when the detected cases stood at seven.

Travellers who had been in coronavirus-hit countries with cases exceeding 200 within the 14 days preceding their arrival were barred from entering the country.

The admissible travellers who exhibit symptoms of the novel coronavirus were to be quarantined and tested upon reaching Ghana.

The government said airlines had been instructed not to allow such persons into the country.

It also said travel to Ghana was strongly discouraged.

But when the number of cases increased to 21, President Nana Akufo-Addo instructed that all borders be closed, which is still in place till date.

“All our borders; by land, sea and air, will be closed to human traffic for the next two weeks beginning midnight on Sunday,” he said in an address to the nation on Saturday, March 21.

The border closure which initially was to last for two weeks was not to affect the import of goods, supplies and cargo.

The directive was later extended indefinitely.

 

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