Elubo border not closed

Officials manning the Ghana side of the Ghana-Ivory Coast border at Elubo in the Western Region have denied reports that the Ivorian side of the border has been closed.

Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE was that the Ivorian side of the Ghana-Ivory Coast border at Elubo was closed last Friday, which made it difficult for articulator trucks carrying goods from Ghana to enter Ivory Coast.

The paper learnt that the Ivorian border guards wanted the Ghanaian drivers to pay high import charges as pertained in Ivory Coast, but the drivers refused.

The move by Ivory Coast, according to sources, was to frustrate importers who clear their goods from Ghana’s ports and sell them in Ivory Coast.

The drivers asserted that, that was the second time trucks from Ghana had been prevented from entering Ivory Coast through the Elubo border this year.

The drivers said that apart from the trucks that were not allowed to move into Ivory Coast with their goods, all other businesses at the border were going on smoothly.

However, speaking in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, Smart Osei Bonus, Acting Sector Commander at the Elubo border, denied the assertion that the border was closed.

He explained that there was a little agitation by the truck drivers at Elubo over some duty issues from the Ivorians. This, he noted, delayed their entry.

He indicated that later an agreement was reached, and everything returned to normal.

He pointed out that even during that period people moved in and out of Ghana through the border.