Muslim families in Tamale struggle to meet expensive Eid demands

Correspondence from Northern Region

Muslims around the world will be celebrating this year’s Eid-ul Adha on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, and Thursday, June 29, 2023, to mark the end of the hajj season.

Eid also marks the remembrance of the famous sacrifice Prophet Abraham made to God and capable Muslims are emulating same by also sacrificing prescribed livestock including goats, rams, bulls and camels.

However in a country like Ghana where camels are not popular, most families use goats, sheep and bull for the popular Islamic festival.

This usually causes the price of these livestock to skyrocket due to the incredibly high demand for them.

This year, Muslims are biting their fingernails in the various livestock markets in Tamale in the Northern Region, as prices of these livestock have skyrocketed.

GhanaWeb checked for the current prices at the two major livestock markets in Tamale, which are the Guunayili Livestock Market and the Tamale Abattoir Livestock Market and it revealed that the prices of bulls ranged from GHC5,000 and GHC30,000 while that of rams ranged from GHC2,000 to a whopping GHC20,000.

Goats, which are rarely used were relatively cheaper, with prices starting from GHC1,000 to GHC3000. This is more than 50 percent increase in the prices as compared to that of last two years.

Many people who were struggling to come to terms with the price hikes accused sellers of over pricing the animals.

“This is just outrageous, I don’t know why our own people will overprice these animals when it’s time for Eid. I know inflation has been going up for some time now but this is just too much. If it was Christians, they would drastically reduce prices for their fellow Christians to buy during a Christian

festive season” Mohammed Abass, a buyer told GhanaWeb.

He called on authorities to close down the Guunayili Livestock Market because it has outlived its usefulness.

“This market is useless now. They should just close it down. It was opened so that livestock from the Sahel will be brought here for sale at affordable prices but now, prices here are even higher than prices in Kumasi and Accra. This is not fair” Mohammed said.

Another disappointed buyer who gave his name only as Abu said he cannot afford to buy a ram this year and would therefore skip this year's sacrifice.

“I can’t buy a sheep this year, I just can’t afford it. Hopefully next year things will get better because it’s not easy,” Abu said.

However, a livestock seller who spoke to GhanaWeb, Danlad Ibrahim blamed the rise in the prices of the livestock on the harsh economic situation in the country.

He said prices of feed for the animals, veterinary services and cost of transporting them were all factored into the cost of each of the animals, hence the price increment.

“We are also suffering just like the customers. At the end, we hardly make any profit if you factor the monies you spend on each animal. We wish the prices were good so that many of our brothers could buy but we have no option,” he said.

Tamale has witnessed a recent trend of high prices of goods, especially foodstuffs during the Eid season. Many revered Islamic clerics in the area have preached against the over-pricing of commodities during the celebration of Eid.

However, that trend is continuing as it has not been only the prices of livestock surging but commodities such as rice, and soft drinks, among others are also becoming expensive.