Martin Kpebu shows a tuber of yam on live TV to support his analysis on cost of living crisis

Martin Luther Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, in advancing his analysis on the cost of living crisis in the country on TV3 Saturday, July 20, 2024, presented a tuber of yam to the studios to paint what he calls a true picture of the situation.

The lawyer brought to the studio a middle-sized tuber of yam which hitherto, was sold for GHC15.00, saying it cost him GHC40.00 from the Tema station in Accra.

He was commenting on the cost of living crisis which has rendered many Ghanaians hungry due to the high cost of food inflation in the country.

His comments follow the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey issued by the Ghana Statistical Service which says “about 1.9 million youth aged between 15 and 35 years are; not educated, unemployed, or having any form of education in the third quarter of 2023.”

Painting a picture of how bad the situation is, he displayed the GHC40 yam on TV for his analysis.

Despite the high cost of fuel contributing to the high food inflation in the country, Mr. Kpebu also blamed the market women for capitalising on the crises to dupe unsuspecting customers.

He noted that some of the market women, instead of adding some percentage to the items they sell, sometimes triple the price and blame it on the cost of transportation which he asked the government to put measures in place to check.

“A lot of this cost of living crisis can also be attributed to the traders”, explaining on the KeyPoints that when he bought a full box of tomatoes for GHC1,000.00 at the railways in Accra, a unit cost was GHC1.80 after he counted them, whilst a unit cost of same tomatoes he bought at the Tema Station, also in Accra, cost him almost GHC4.00.

He cited the recent happenings as the cause of former President Rawlings’ invasion of the markets during the ‘kalabule‘ days.

Mr. Kpebu advised that the psyche of the Ghanaian trader and making super-normal profit must be checked since things are getting out of hand.

“There is something about the psyche of the Ghanaian trader and supernormal profit. You buy something for GHC1.00 then they tell you to triple or quadruple it”, leading to the assertion that it is better for one to give his money to a trader than to purchase treasury bills.

Martin Kpebu’s lamentations come a week after Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, had also complained about the cost of living on the same show.

Prof. Gyampo was expressing the needlessness to be arguing over packing the Supreme Court of Ghana with more judges when the prices of food have tripled on the market.

According to the Professor, the argument to pack the apex court with more judges was “bogus”, when the government had failed to deploy measures to address the living conditions in the country.

He noted that the Consumer Price Analysis of the country, per a programme he observed on 3News indicated that the value of GHC1,000 in 2021 was equivalent to GHC440 in 2024.

Expressing the enormity of the situation from his personal experience, the Professor disclosed that foodstuffs he used to purchase on the market for GHC60 were now sold for GHC220, something he says the leadership of the country should be worried about.

“Two paint buckets of tomatoes is GHC440 on the market and you are here talking about packing courts with judges. I used to buy them GHC120. Then I said I will buy plantain, the rotten one, the fingers were like four or six, they said if you don’t have GHC180.00 I’ll not give it to you. Then ‘olonka
‘ pepper which used to be GHC20 and moved to GHC30 is now GHC70. We are in Ghana, things are so hard, things are so difficult, we are suffering massive food inflation,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, July 13, 2024.

“Yesterday I listened to 3News’ Consumer Price Analysis and they argued that in 2021, if you were paid GHC1,000, in 2024 it’s GHC440 and what are we talking about? We are majoring on minor issues. Please the argument to want to pack the courts is bogus. We are interested in what the people of Ghana are saying and not the whimsical and capricious desires of people who are suddenly behaving out of character because of the morbid fear of the persona of Ghana’s political king kong Nana Akufo-Addo,” he added.

Prof. Gyampo’s concerns stemmed from a request from the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, to President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to nominate five judges to the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Source:onuaonline.com