Bawumia pledges to align Ghana's import duties with Lome to curb smuggling

Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party's flagbearer, has vowed that if elected president, his administration will ensure that Ghana's import duties are on par with or lower than those of Lome, Togo.

He emphasized the importance of this step, noting that Lome port is a significant competitor for Ghana and that many people import goods through

Read full articleLome and then smuggle them into Ghana.

To combat smuggling and level the playing field, Dr. Bawumia announced a new policy where Ghana will charge the same or lower import duties compared to Lome.

He highlighted the need for Tema port to be fully automated and for import duties at Tema to be aligned with those at Lome, stating, "The ports in Ghana will not charge higher duties than the ports in Lome, this is our policy."

Speaking at a breakfast meeting with NPP regional leaders ahead of the campaign activities, Dr. Bawumia stressed the importance of this policy in preventing revenue loss.

He explained, "If you are higher all the containers will go to Lome and they will smuggle them into Ghana and you will lose the revenue so we are going to make sure that under a new policy, we will be either lower or the same as Lome."

Highlighting his administration's achievements, Dr. Bawumia mentioned the introduction of innovative measures such as the ability for consumers to buy electricity units on their mobile phones, eliminating the need to queue at ECG payment centers.

He also noted the government's efforts in building more courts for the judiciary and providing cars and equipment to the Ghana Armed Forces and Police.

Dr. Bawumia further praised the government's implementation of transformational policies, including the issuance of a digital national ID card and the introduction of Mobile Money interoperability between mobile money accounts and bank accounts, making Ghana the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa.