On 30 May 1975, at the Accra Community Centre, the Action Unit of the office of the Chairman of the National Redemption Council, Colonel Kutu Acheampong sold a quantity of hoarded items to members of the general public.
The Ghanaian Government has been stepped up its campaign against the hoarding and Smuggling of subsidized goods.
The hoarding of such goods as tinned milk, sugar, margarine, pilchards and detergents has meant they have become unavailable in some parts of the country … or only available at “black market” prices.
Head of State Colonel Kutu Acheampong offered informants fifty per cent of the total costs of hoarded or smuggled goods recovered by the authorities.
As soon as the Government announced a cut in the price of cube sugar and other goods recently, they vanished from the shops and markets only to be sold at double the price announced by the Prices and Incomes Board. It was also soon on sale in neighboring countries.
Colonel Kutu Acheampong said “Unless we cling to the smuggler completely from our society, progress will forever elude us”.
“Every year we lose 21 million cedis (7.5 million sterling) in cocoon smuggling alone”, said the Ghanaian leader. He added that the Government could not be expected to subsidize goods forever at the expense of the tax-payer.