By Murtala Issah
Residents of border communities in the Northern, North East, and Upper East regions have turned to smuggling petroleum products from neighbouring Togo and Burkina Faso in response to recent hikes in the prices of petroleum products in Ghana.
Residents of Saboba, Chereponi, Yunyoo, Paga, and other districts along Ghana’s northern and eastern borders are taking advantage of the numerous unapproved routes to bring in petrol and diesel, which are relatively cheaper across the border.
The development is a reversal of an age-old practise of fuel smuggling from Ghana into neighbouring Togo and Burkina Faso. The development has also led to the collapse of some fuel filling stations in the Upper East region, where smuggling into Burkina Faso was widespread.
Smuggling of petroleum products into Togo and Burkina Faso is an age-old phenomenon due to the relatively cheaper prices of the product in Ghana. However, in recent months, the tables have turned as the economic meltdown, including high inflation and the depreciation of the cedi, have pushed prices in Ghana up.
Sources in Chereponi told GBC News that petrol, which sells at ¢17.99 per litre in Ghana, currently sells at ¢10 per litre in Togo and ¢12 across the border in Chereponi in Ghana.
Diesel, which is currently selling at ¢23.4 per litre in Ghana, is going for between 15 and 18 cedis in Chereponi. In Yunyoo, Saboba, and Paga, the situation is similar to Chereponi. During the tour, GBC correspondent observed that some commercial vehicles and tricycles plying the Saboba-Yendi, Yendi-Chereponi, and Nalerigu-Yunyoo were loaded with yellow 25 litre gallons popularly known as “Kuffuor gallon”.
When asked, a tricycle operator in Chereponi who was loaded with empty gallons revealed that he was “going to carry petrol from the bush”. A resident of Wenchiki in the Chereponi district revealed that “they bring it from Togo and Benin and meet us in the bush on the border”.
The source also revealed that the youth were making good money from smuggling, adding that they supplied Tamale, Yendi, Walewale, Nalerigu, and Bimbilla.
Some security personnel in the area appear to be helpless, as some assemblies are also buying their fuel from Togo. In the Upper East region, the situation has affected some filling stations, especially along the Navrongo-Paga border, which leads into Burkina Faso.
A few years ago, there were nearly a filling station every 50 meters between Paga and Navrongo. It was alleged that some of these fuel stations were smuggling Petroleum products into Burkina Faso overnight. With the recent hikes in prices in Ghana, many of these stations have been abandoned with weeds growing in some of them.