Gold-for-oil barter archaic trade stopped by Guggisberg – Former NPP MP

Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye has cautioned the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates not to gloat over the introduction of the gold-for-oil barter deal championed by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.

The former NPP Member of Parliament for Ayensuano Constituency in the Eastern Region and the Eastern Regional Coordinator for the 'Alan for President 2024' campaign took issues with the much-touted deal when he spoke to Accra100.5FM on Monday, March 27, 2023.

He said the deal is not a novelty but an archaic trade system halted by Gold Coast governor Gordon Guggisberg.

He said the barter trade system was cancelled by Guggisberg but the Vice President is out there patting himself on the back that it is the only deal that will ensure prices go down at the pumps.

“Barter trade did not serve any meaningful purpose and that was why the colonial government stopped it,” he stressed.

He argued the deal is no panacea for salvaging the situation of the high cost of fuel in the country.

He said the vice president as head of the Economic Management Team met a litre of petrol at GHS3.40p but today a litre is selling for over GHS12.

“The outgone National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration left inflation of 18 per cent. With Dr Bawumia as the head of the EMT, inflation is now hovering around 53 per cent,” he noted.

He questioned if this is the man for the job.

Touting the capabilities of the former Minister for Trade and Industries, Mr Alan Kyerematen, Mr Ayeh Paye said Mr Kyeremanten has outlined his vision for the country in the Ghana Transformation Agenda (GTA) for the creation of factories to transform the country’s raw material base and to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth across the country.

He said Mr Kyerematen has a track record of making the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACfTA) a reality and bringing its secretariat to Ghana.

According to him, Mr Kyerematen has an unblemished track record, unlike the head of the EMT.