Kenkey Becomes Every Expensive Because Of Russia-Ukraine War – Owusu Bempah

The government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cannot be blamed for the rising price of kenkey, according to a convener of the pro-New Patriotic Party activist group #FixingTheCountry Ghana.

Ghanaians have seen a dramatic increase in the cost of basic goods and services, particularly food, in the last few months.

Many people are gnashing their teeth and blaming the administration for not acting quickly enough to change the narrative.

When asked whether the government may be blamed for the growth in the cost of economic conditions, including the cost of kenkey, by Afia Pokua of Okay FM’s Egyaso Gyaso, Owusu Bempah fiercely denied it.

He drew a parallel between the price of kenkey, which is manufactured from grain, and the Russian military’s continuing invasion of Ukraine.

According to him, the war has caused a shortage of fertilizer for maize cultivation in Ghana, resulting in an increase in maize prices. As a result, he claims, the price of kenkey has risen.

“You are a journalist and so if you ask those questions, you have to ask the circumstances within which the world is situated… We need fertilizer to grow corn and we don’t manufacture the fertilizer in Ghana, we import it. So if you wake up one day and everything has come to a halt with borders closed, the first cardinal principle to know is that global circumstances have changed.

“Majority of our economy relies on the importation of goods and services, right or wrong? Therefore, you have to know that things will change. Secondly, we know that globally crude oil which we import is from Russia and Ukraine. Because of the war going on in Ukraine, if anyone says we can’t argue that the break in supply and the resulting increase in oil prices has no effect, I don’t agree,” he argued.

“We import about 60% of our crude oil from Ukraine and Russia so if the prices have increased, obviously, that should tell you something. How much oil do we produce in Ghana? We have to import, and when we do that, there are heavy taxes imposed on it which will go on to affect everything. So if kenkey used to be GHC1 and it is now GHC5, why should you be worried?” he questioned.

Owusu Bempah emphasized that it has become incumbent for people to appreciate the state of the global economy and its effect on the Ghanaian economy instead of blaming the government for the rise in the cost of living.

“Did Akufo-Addo bring the war? Did Akufo-Addo bring the Corona? Don’t you know that Ukraine is the food basket of the world? Go and do your research. Even when the Iraq and Iran war started in the early 90s, the minute even the global economists hear there is a war, you know it automatically affects everything in the world. You don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you this,” he blurted out.