Government has succumbed to intense pressure from Members of Parliament (MPs) and suspended the directive on the ban of cashew nut exports.
The directive was the subject of intense controversy in parliament as MPs vented their frustrations at the Trade Ministry for imposing a ban on cashew nut exports from the country.
They were of the view the move would lead to a sharp drop in its price and cripple the cashew industry.
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry Ibrahim Murtala Muhammad, in an exclusive interview with Class News’ parliamentary correspondent Ekow Annan on Friday March 18, said the directive had been suspended with immediate effect.
“Well, I think it’s unfortunate that we got to where we got to yesterday (Thursday March 17) in parliament, and I also think that if there were some discussions between the Ministry and parliament, I don’t think we would have gotten to that,” he stated.
“I thought that, probably, emotions took part of almost everybody to the extent issues were responded to. On a very large extent…it’s an emotional issue. If you have your conscience, who will be putting pressure on you as a result of some directives and the fact that we are coming on the heels of DKM? I can understand the concerns parliament but I felt that we could have avoided that.
“That notwithstanding, I have had some meeting with the leadership of parliament today. I had discussions with my minister this morning on the issue and he gave his blessing, so, I had meetings with leadership on behalf of the ministry and we have resolved to suspend the implementation of the directive so that we can have further discussions and deliberations to see how best we can find a solution.
“…..yes, we have taken a decision and we will issue a statement to that effect. I have had discussions with my minister already after I met the leadership, and we have agreed to suspend it now so that we can have further discussions on the matter,” he added.
