At the commencement of the third meeting of the fourth session of the eighth parliament on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, the minority leader for the NDC caucus, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, lamented over the hardships Ghanaians are facing, particularly the grim projections and statistics on the food situation in Ghana.
Giving his opening remarks to welcome honorable members to the fourth session, he noted that high food prices are not the only challenge facing Ghanaians but also food shrinkflation, where food vendors maintain their prices but reduce the quantity or size of their portions, has become the order of the day.
“Mr. Speaker, kurom ay3 hye. Times are very hard! Ghanaians are suffering! I am sure those of you who have bought Ga Kenkey or Nkran dokon lately will appreciate the food shrinkflation that I am talking about.”
Dr. Cassiel highlighted that according to a World Food Programme report for March 2024, more than one million Ghanaians are likely to face food insecurity between now and August this year because of rising food prices.
He cited several examples, including the price of a bucket of tomatoes, which was sold at GHS75 at the beginning of this year, now selling at GHS180, an increase of 140%.
Again, the price of a crate of tomatoes increased by more than 360% between January and June this year when the price rose from GHS1,500 to GHS7,000. In just one week, the price of a sack of onions jumped from GHS600 to GHS1,050, an increase of nearly 100%.
Not forgetting, a sack of kokonte which was sold for GHS900 in December 2023, is now selling at GHS1,100.
“This means in just five months, the price of kokonte has gone up by 22.2%,” he outlined among other examples.
However, the minority leader was curious to ask what had happened to the billions of Ghana Cedis approved by parliament for what he described as “government’s so-called flagship programme, planting for food and jobs.”
“Where is the food? And where are the jobs? Were they planting for high food prices and joblessness?” he quizzed.
That notwithstanding, he categorically stated that the NDC minority caucus will protect the interests of Ghanaians.
“Mr. Speaker, we are back! Trust us, the NDC minority caucus, to protect the interest of the people of Ghana,” he said.
By: MARY QUARTEY
