MP calls for reopening of Elubo border
Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Madam Dorcas Affo-Toffey has called for the reopening of the Elubo border. The move she says will release the burden on travelers as well as pave way for the flow of businesses
Joseph Marfo 
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Madam Dorcas Affo-Toffey has called for the reopening of the Elubo border to allow the business to flow.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament as part of her maiden statement on Wednesday, 24th March 2021, she said “there is the urgent need to reopen and regularize land border crossing at key entry points in the Jomoro Constituency such as Elubo, Jaway Wharf, Newtown, Ellenda Wharf and other border towns in Ghana.”
According to her, the move was necessitated by the distress her constituents are currently going through which include loss of capital, loss of livelihoods, decreased social cohesion, increased theft cases, emigration, hunger, etc.
Commenting also on the Kotoka International Airport, she said the Ghana Airports Company Limited reports on its website indicate that 2,110,593 passengers used the Kotoka International Airport in 2019 alone.
She further stated that the British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) has on their website that, an average number of 98,000 people enter Ghana through Kotoka International Airport every month since the COVID-19 period. These figures are extremely bigger than the 4000 people who entered Ghana through Ivory Coast per month before COVID-19.
According to the Member of Parliament for the Jomoro Constituency, all the measures put in place at Kotoka International Airport can be replicated at our borders except that, we can employ a competitive antigen testing entity whose pricing will be commensurate with current international market pricing unlike the exorbitant antigen testing regime at the Kotoka International Airport.
She further stated and I quote “I say this by taking into consideration the fewer entrants per month of persons using the land borders for trade and other businesses in comparison to the volumes of persons using the Kotoka International Airport per available statistics.”
She, therefore, called on the Government to as a matter of urgency open up the borders whilst stepping up adequate surveillance and effective monitoring of our borders.
For her, these measures if adhered to and instituted at our borders will not only help in reviving the dwindling socioeconomic activities but will also help in the fight against the virus. It will also further boost our Pan-African credentials as the champions of the ECOWAS protocols on the free movement of persons and goods which is cardinal to our integration agenda.
