Haruna Iddrisu, the minority leader in parliament has called on the Ghanaians to disregard circulating claims of government suspending the implementation of the law banning the importation of salvaged cars.
Assenting to the assertion that it is a propaganda move by the incumbent government, the minority leader further punched holes in the credibility of the propagators of the suspension of the ban.
“The Trade Minister has no such power, the President of the Republic Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has no such powers. If they want a repeal of the law they should walk back to parliament. Ghanaians should ignore their propaganda on the suspension. What law is on suspension?
Registering his displeasure over the matter he further noted that no one can “just come on radio and television and say you have suspended a law because of opportunistic political gains”.
Commenting in hindsight, the Tamale South MP narrated how the minority had advised the House against banning the law on salvaged cars at the introductory stage, which were taken with a pinch of salt.
“All should legally dismiss their argument because that is very misleading and very worrying for a country governed by rule of law. You passed a law you assented to, you came to parliament, [and] you argued favorably that this was good law. We cautioned them and they would listen.
“Let them not deceive the Ghanaian public in the interest of votes that all of sudden they are believers that salvaged cars can come to Ghana and salvaged cars can be used in Ghana.”
The Tema Regional Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Alex Asiamah, disclosed to the media that the Customs Commander at the Tema Port announced the law had been suspended by the government.
“So, the importers can go on with their business of importing such cars. So that’s the news at the moment. It is coming from the Ministry [of Finance], but through our sector commander, the Assistant Commander of Customs in Tema”.
Mr. Asiamah believes that the agitation by industry players such as the Coalition of Car and Spare Parts Dealers Association of Ghana to an extent influenced government’s decision to suspend the law.
“You could remember that when the news came, importers or dealers in those cars were not happy about it and then it was even twisted in different directions to make it look like something odd.”
Meanwhile, former President John Mahama has disclosed his government would scrap the law should he win the 2020 Presidential elections.
According to him, he will rather stimulate the local automotive industry at Suame magazine in Kumasi and Abossey Okai in Accra rather than collapse them.
He made the promise when the NDC launched its 2020 manifesto on Monday, September 7, 2020.
The Customs Amendment Act, 2020, which was passed by Parliament in March 2020 and to be rolled out on November 1, 2020, was also to stop the importation of vehicles older than 10 years.
