Member of Parliament for Adaklu in the Volta Region Kwame Governs Agbodza has claimed that the reasons the government closed down the borders in the Volta and Western Regions have nothing to do with the fight against COVID-19 but to intimidate residents in those border communities.
He said the livelihood of people living in border communities is based on cross-border business in order to take care of their families and dependents.
Mr Agbodza stated that he has no shred of doubt that the reason the government closed the border in particular areas like the Volta and Western Regions has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He claimed it is rather a calculated attempt to intimidate, beat up people, and stop people the government perceives to be Ghanaians who reside in Togo and coming to vote in the general election.
Mr Agbodza thus pointed out that the people of Aflao and other border towns need the borders to be opened for them to return to their normal mode of livelihood.
He said this is because some in the border towns in the Volta Region rely on trade between Ghana and Togo for a living, and so it will be cruel to keep the borders shut.
Mr Agbodza made this remark in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Monday, August 16.
He was speaking on the back of the borders being closed to residents who live in the border communities and conduct trade between countries like Togo in order to feed their families and livelihoods in the country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the closure of the country’s borders due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
But Mr Agbodza said, “I think if you have ever lived in a border town, you will realize that the economies of those towns rely heavily on crossing the border to do genuine business. And I have never doubted the fact that the reason NPP closed particularly, the borders of the Western Region and Volta Region, has nothing to do with Covid.
In fact, as at the time President Akufo-Addo ordered the military into the Volta Region during the registration and all those things, you could count the number of people who had Covid with the fingers; there were more Covid patients in Ghana in dozens”.
“So it had nothing to do with Covid, it was simply a calculated attempt to actually intimidate, beat up people in Volta Region, stop people they perceive to be Ghanaians who are in Togo, who are coming to vote and they are shy of pulling them out because people will ask ‘is the Covid over?'” He charged on the New Day show.