<<Print>>

The Upper West Regional Security Committee (REGSEC) is to get tough on people who smuggle fertilizer and other agro-inputs out of the country. It therefore warned those engaged in the illicit business to quit before they are caught and prosecuted. Mr. Abu Kabiebata Kansangbata, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, said this during the first ordinary meeting of the Sissala West District Assembly in Gwollu. He said as part of measures put in place to clamp down on such negative activities REGSEC had strengthened the borders and put in place security patrols on unapproved roads to ensure that no fertilizer was smuggled outside. Mr. Kansangbata said the government was spending a lot of money in subsidizing fertilizer to make it affordable and accessible to farmers in rural communities to enable them increase productivity and ensure food security. But smugglers, he said, were defeating the efforts of the government as they denied farmers access to the subsidized fertilizer thereby bringing economic hardships to them. He said REGSEC was prepared to ensure that they stopped the practice and that anybody or group of persons caught in the practice would be severely punished to serve as a deterrent to others. Mr. Kansangbata appealed to District Security Committees (DISEC), traditional rulers, opinion leaders and the general public to be vigilant and to report anybody suspected to be smuggling fertilizer out of the country.