Lawyer raises alarm over importation of fake kente at cheaper rates

Legal practitioner, Kwame Jantuah has raised concerns over the importation of fake Kente into the country by the Chinese.

According to him, this Kente which is sold at a cheaper price is likely to cripple the Kente industry in the country.

He, however, called on the government to take steps to ban the importation of these

Read full articleKente as the Chinese are seeking to ditch this country.

Speaking on TV3’s Big Issue, Kwame Jantuah said the Ghanaian indigenous Kente industry which has become a tourist attraction is likely to lose if the government fails to intervene.

"China is going to ditch this country if we are not careful. Do you know that they are bringing in fake Kente which is now affecting the Kente industry? And people are going into for the fake Kente instead of buying ours.

"I don’t understand why the government can’t ban some of these things. Do you know what it will do to the rural Kente weavers if we continue this trajectory and the government just sit and does nothing about it. How can that happen, this is indigenous to Ghana and we are leaving Ghana to do what?

Kente (aka Kete) is the most famous and most celebrated of all the textiles used in Ghana.

The finely woven material has become the defining symbol of Ghana and Ghanaians and, indeed, of Africa, and for Black people in general.

There are two main strands of kente in Ghana representing two ethnic groups – the Ashanti and the Ewe (among whom the cloth is in fact known as kete).

NYA/KPE