The Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) has endorsed the proposed import limits law, describing it as a critical step towards establishing economic stability.

The AGI, which represents a diverse variety of companies in Ghana, thinks that passage of the measure by Parliament will improve Ghana’s debt sustainability efforts and strengthen control over foreign exchange reserves.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has introduced legislation in Parliament outlining the government’s intention to restrict imports of 22 specific commodities, including poultry, animal and vegetable oil, margarine, fruit drinks, soft drinks, mineral water, noodles and pasta, ceramic tiles, corrugated paper, and paperboard.

Mosquito coils, insecticides, soaps and detergents, automobiles, iron and steel, cement, polymers (plastics and plastic goods), fish, sugar, textiles and apparel, biscuits, and canned tomatoes round out the list.

According to the government, the purpose of this action is to reduce the influx of these items, with the goal of striking a balance between helping local sectors, preserving foreign money, and eventually building economic resilience.

While the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Federation of Freight Forwarders have spoken out against the law, expressing worries about potential corruption, the AGI has remained supportive.

Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, President of AGI, stated on the Citi Breakfast Show that the law is a reaction to the need to repair Ghana’s weak economy.

“Our view is that the bill is in the right direction, it is a positive development. Once you realise that it is coming at the back of a fragile economy with an IMF intervention that seeks to bring sustainability and the purpose of the IMF stability is on the balance of payment and the forex reserve challenges that we have.

“So it is a transitional programme to help the economy. If the government believe that there are some products that are giving us difficulties in terms of our BOP and forex and by virtue of that seeks to bring intervention in that space that is how we seek to create a sustainable forex and a BOP according to our budget and need”.

Dr Ayim-Darke further emphasised the need for a private member to lead the committee to supervise the bill’s implementation.

“Our position is that it is purposeful to use this bill to control the forex. That is why we are proposing that because this will have more impact on the private sector, let the private sector chair it”.

Dr. Ayim-Darke, on the other hand, emphasised the importance of broad stakeholder input on import limits in order to avoid unforeseen repercussions.

According to Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, homosexuality should not be a criminal offence, and people should be educated to better comprehend the matter.

Cardinal Turkson’s remarks come as Ghana’s government debates a plan that would severely punish LGBT individuals.

His opinions contrast with those of Ghana’s Roman Catholic bishops, who consider homosexuality to be “despicable.”

Pope Francis hinted last month that he might be willing to have the Catholic Church bless same-sex marriages.

However, he emphasised that same-sex relationships remained “objectively sinful” and that the Church would not accept same-sex marriage.

In July, Ghanaian MPs adopted provisions in a draught bill that would make identifying as LGBT criminal by a three-year jail term. People who advocate for LGBT rights might face up to ten years in prison.

Gay intercourse is already illegal and punishable by a three-year jail term.

The Ghanaian bishops, along with other important Christian groups in the nation, stated in an August statement that Western countries should “stop the incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us,” according to the Catholic Herald newspaper.

Cardinal Turkson, who has been mentioned as a possible future pope candidate, told the BBC’s HARDtalk show that “LGBT people may not be criminalised because they have committed no crime.”

“It is time to start educating people, to help them understand what this reality, this phenomenon is.” “We need a lot of education to get people to… distinguish between what is and isn’t a crime,” he remarked.

The cardinal pointed to the statement “men who act like women and women who act like men” in one of Ghana’s languages, Akan. He contended that this demonstrated that homosexuality was not an imposition from without.

“If culturally we had expressions…it just means that it’s not completely alien to the Ghanaian society.”

Nonetheless, Cardinal Turkson believes that what has led to the present efforts in numerous African countries to adopt strong anti-gay legislation are “attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions… in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights.”

“Neither should this position also become… something to be imposed on cultures which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.”

Uganda’s parliament approved a law in May that proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, as well as the death penalty in so-called aggravated cases, which include having gay sex with someone under the age of 18 or becoming infected with a life-long illness such as HIV.

Because of the move, the World Bank froze new loans to Uganda in August, and President Joe Biden said in October that the US will withdraw the country from a preferential trading agreement due to “gross violations of internationally recognised human rights.”

Cardinal Turkson was named the first Ghanaian cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. He is presently the Pontifical Academies of Sciences’ chancellor.

Hundreds of inhabitants of Dawhenya in the Greater Accra Region have been relocated as a result of flooding caused by the overflow of an irrigation dam in the region.

Some concerned residents told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News that the water is up to their windows.

“The flooding began around 4 a.m. today.” It has never dropped since. It has impacted numerous homes in my neighbourhood. Water got into my house. I wasn’t able to go to work today since I had to pack. The water level continues to rise. “When I enter my room, the water is at my knee level,” Emmanuel Aryee, a resident, said.

Despite the fact that the irrigation project occasionally overflows its banks, he stressed that today’s spilling was “very serious.”

Over 200 houses have been damaged, according to Richard Mohammed, assembly member for one of the affected neighbourhoods.

“Over 200 houses in my electoral district have been affected.” The water has reached the window. This is not the first time this has happened. “This is the third time this year,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Samuel Tetteh, the Scheme Manager for the Dawhenya Dam project, has stated that they are not to blame for the floods.

He stated that the dam is designed in such a way that it leaks surplus water on its own, and that recent heavy rains aggravated the issue.

“The dam is designed in such a way that when the water level rises, it spills on its own, as has happened over the years.” But what happened this morning came from another stream that flows every two to three years. This stream originates in the Shai Hills area, joining the dam’s stream and creating the flood, rather than from the main dam. Yes, the dam is still overflowing. Depending on the rainfall upstream in the Dodowa districts, it can flood for two to three days. We are not to blame for the dam.”

This follows the overflow of the Akosombo Dam, which displaced over 30,000 people living along the Volta basin.