Govt accused of suspending ban on salvaged cars importation due to election 2020

Automobile dealers in Ghana have said government’s swift U-turn on the implementation of the law to ban the importation of salvaged vehicles and vehicles more than 10 years into the country is a mere political gimmick.

The Automobile Dealers Union of Ghana says the suspension of the Customs Amendment Act is an attempt by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government to win more votes in the 2020 general elections.

General Secretary of the Automobile Dealers Union, Clifford Ansu, told Citi News that a total cancellation of the law that was set to take off on November 1, 2020, should be the way to go.

“If this is what you want to do at the moment then it means that immediately after the elections, the law can come back because if something is good, you don’t suspend it.

“Suspensions are only done when someone misbehaves but if you only say this is what you can do for us now, then the decision by the government on this issue is not definite and we are not happy with the decision,” he said.

Already, the Minority Members of Parliament have asked Ghanaians to ignore suspension of the law.

Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said the suspension is propaganda because the government has no power to suspend the law.

The Act which was passed in March 2020 amid fears of job losses.

Mr Iddrisu explained that when the law was first introduced in Parliament, the Minority cautioned the government that it was a bad law that will take Ghanaians out of jobs.

After realising that this law will bite them hard in the elections, they have now turned round to claim that it has been suspended, he added.

The Customs Amendment Act 2020 provides incentives for automobile manufacturers and assemblers registered under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturers Programme and prohibits the importation of salvaged motor vehicles and cars over to years of age into Ghana.

The implementation of the law was suspended suddenly last week.