Picketing By Food Suppliers: Minority MPs Clash With Bryan Acheampong At Buffer Stock Company Head Office

• There were exchanges between the Minority and Agric minister Bryan Acheampong on Friday over the picketing by food suppliers
• The Minority had gone there to get answers for the picketing that started on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, over the government's indebtedness
• But Bryan Acheampong was not enthused by the MPs' visit, especially when they arrived at the head office of the Buffer Stock Company with journalists

There was a banter between the Minority and Agric minister Bryan Acheampong on Friday when the MPs stormed the National Food Buffer Stock Company over the picketing by suppliers.

The food suppliers have been picketing at the head office of the Buffer Stock Company over the government's failure to pay them debts that have piled up for two years.

Scores of food suppliers have been sleeping in the open at the forecourt of the Buffer Stock Company since Tuesday, July 4, 2023, to put pressure on the government to release the money to pay their over GH¢270 million.

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Some of the food suppliers say they fear their creditors will kill them if they go back home without the money.

Minority MPs storm Buffer Stock Company to demand answers

The picketing grabbed national attention so the Minority went to the office of the National Food Buffer Stock Company to interrogate the issue.

When they got to the premises with eager journalists, Bryan Acheampong, who was there, was not enthused by the move by the Minority.

He told Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson that as a former Deputy Finance Minister, he expected him to know better than lead a delegation to the Company to stoke the fire.

“This is not the route to solve this problem. This inorganic picketing should not be accepted and encouraged,” Bryan Acheampong, MP for Abetifi, said.

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Agric minister assures suppliers debts would be paid soon

On July 6, 2023, the agric minister Bryan Acheampong told the picketing food suppliers that he would speak to the Ministry of Finance to have their two years arrears settled.

The minister also assured them that he would get to them with a date the payment would be made by Friday afternoon.

Despite the assurance, the food suppliers picketed, explaining that the minister's promises were not enough.

"We are sleeping till Friday. Minister of Agriculture Bryan Acheampong came to give some assurances. He said he will have a discussion with the Finance Minister. And plans will be put in place to ensure that we are paid. But we told the minister that we will be waiting for him on Friday for the feedback he brings," of them aggrieved food suppliers told the media.

Food vendors without health certificates to be prosecuted

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We want our money now: Food suppliers spend 2 nights at Buffer Stock Company over gov't indebtedness

YEN.com.gh reported in an unrelated story that health authorities have announced a clampdown on street food vendors without a health certificate.

The move is in response to rampant instances of food poisoning, some fatal, reported in parts of the country.

The Tema Metropolitan Assembly for instance has started a fierce screening campaign at all food joints in the metropolis to ensure compliance with the new move.

TUC suspends planned strike over Sunon Asogli impasse

In a separate story, YEN.com.gh reported that the Trade Union Congress suspended a planned nationwide strike scheduled for Monday, July 10, 2023.

The union's Secretary General, Dr Yaw Baah, gave the government until July 17, 2023, to settle the union's grievances.

The Council of State had pleaded with the union to give the government more time to settle the impasse with Sunon Asogli Power Limited.

Source: YEN.com.gh