GAIDA denies selling fake agrochemical products

The Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Agricultural Input Dealers Association (GAIDA) has denied that its members are engaged in selling fake agro-chemicals at the Kumasi Kejetia terminal.

It said the association is a well-organized body and members had always complied with the rules and regulations governing their activities in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Friday, Mr Francis Acheampong, Secretary of the Association, insisted that members were dealing in genuine agro products which had been registered and certified by all regulatory bodies in the industry.

He mentioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) as some of the key regulatory bodies which had always been working with members to ensure that they complied with all rules and regulations in the course of their operations.

Mr Acheampong said GAIDA members were registered businessmen who have registered all their products in lawful manner to support gallant farmers to produce healthy food crops for the people.

“It is therefore erroneous for anybody to conclude without proper investigations to state in the media that the Kumasi Kejetia terminal has become the hub of counterfeit agro-products in the country”, he stated.

Mr Acheampong said, Kumasi had not and would not be the hub of counterfeit agro-products in Ghana and challenged anybody who had proven to come forward so that together, they could arrest those who were engaged in such nefarious activities.

He appealed to the media to always be circumspect in their reportage in such sensitive issues since it could go a long way to affect not only the genuine business of operators but the food production in the country.

Mr Bernard Kwasi Dwomoh, Chairman of the Association, said the publication was a wicked attempt by some unscrupulous people to tarnish the hard won reputation of members in order to win cheap business advantage.

This, he said would not work since members were dealing in genuine products which had been certified by all regulatory bodies from the point of import to the distribution.

Mr Dwomoh assured farmers that members would continue to supply them with good and environmentally friendly products to help them increase production to help achieve food security in the country.