Welfare Officer of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA), Benjamin Yeboah insists the lives of Ghanaians should be prioritized over economic activity.
According to him, traders are very happy if land borders are opened but “looking at the health aspect, we have to make that number one over profits. Although as traders we want economic activity to go on so we make money, we don’t want it to happen at the peril of lives. We will prefer to be broke than ill.”
In the wake of fears of a possible spread of the Omicron variant, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has advised against the reopening of Ghana’s land borders.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, the President said the decision forms part of the government’s efforts at preventing the fourth wave of Covid-19 in Ghana.
“We are monitoring the threat levels of the disease and ongoing vaccinations in our neighboring countries, and, as soon as we are satisfied that it is safe to do so, the borders will be opened. Until then, I believe this is not the right time to reopen our land borders, especially as we are determined to prevent the 4th wave, and, as such, they will remain closed until further notice,” the President stated.
In an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun, Benjamin Yeboah noted that trader unions will be patient with the government until the borders are safe to be reopened, with proper measures put in place to safeguard lives of Ghanaians. “It has not been easy for traders with the virus still around. Even the developed countries are putting a lot of measures in place to safeguard their populace. If borders are not closed, we may have huge regrets after Christmas.”
The businessman who admitted traders are not happy with the economic implications of the closure of land borders, they still deem it a necessity. “We have to look at the best way to deal with the situation and not consider our economic benefits over health.”
