Mahama charges government to reopen land borders

Former President John Dramani Mahama has added his voice for calls for the opening of the country’s land borders.

According to Mr Mahama, “the long border closures have devastated the economy of our border communities.”

He noted that government's announcement that it is deliberating at Cabinet about a possible opening of the land borders is long overdue.

“Let's open the land borders now,” the former Ghanaian leader charged in a Facebook post.

Mr Mahama’s call comes after the Minority in Parliament earlier this week also made the same appeal to the government to open the land borders to facilitate the free flow of persons, goods and services within the ECOWAS and the rest of the world.

According to the Minority, there can be no justification for the continued closure of Ghana's borders.

Speaking to the press in Parliament on Tuesday, 15 March 2022, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, said, “Post-Covid, we are not out of the woods yet but we want to see a return to normalcy with the movement of goods and services to our borders and, therefore, whatever proactive measures government needs to take, there can be no justification for the continued closure of Ghana’s land borders.”

“As a minority, our primary concern is to call on the president as chair of ECOWAS to do that which is needful to give meaning to the resolution he so chaired for ECOWAS to pass to allow and facilitate the free movement of goods and services between us, our neighbours and the rest of the world,” he added.

Ghana’s land borders were closed in March 2020 when the country recorded its first cases of the COVID-19.

The decision was part of efforts to prevent a spread.

Only cargo is allowed into the country.

Residents of Elubo and Aflao borders have also been demanding the reopening of the entry points so they can engage in commercial activities since the closure has affected their livelihoods.

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