Ghanaian Afrobeats musician Wendy Shay has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to address the exorbitant import duties imposed on cars.
The award-winning actress in a tweet expressed her discomfort that outrageous import duties on cars affect customers in the country.
“Your excellency @NAkufoAddo Mr president, I know you have the welfare of Ghanaians at heart but can you please do something about import duties, especially on cars?” excerpt of the tweet read.
Highlighting the astronomical import duties on cars in a tweet, the ‘Uber Driver’ hitmaker drew government’s attention to the stark contrast in prices between purchasing a vehicle in the United States and the additional costs incurred due to duty charges upon importation.
Your excellency @NAkufoAddo Mr president, I know you have the welfare of Ghanaians at heart but can you please do something about import duties especially on cars? The import duties on cars are way Outrageous . You buy a car in the US for $35,000 (397,707.10 Cedis) and pay…
— Enigma EP (@wendyshaygh) July 3, 2023
She went on to illustrate the situation with an example, where a car valued at $35,000 in the US would attract a hefty duty payment of $30,000 USD, totaling approximately 340,891.80 Cedis.
She further explained, “The import duties on cars are way Outrageous. You buy a car in the US for $35,000 (397,707.10 Cedis) and pay $30,000 USD (340,891.80 Cedis) as a duty. Please do something, Mr. President”
Wendy Shay’s plea to President Nana Akufo-Addo stems from a belief that reducing the import duties on cars would greatly alleviate the financial strain on Ghanaians seeking to own vehicles.
Some netizens have reacted to her concern.
Thank you for speaking up. Ghanaians are truly suffering
— Kelvin Ashong (@Mawunya_) July 3, 2023
This is the kind of things @sarkodie and @shattawalegh @stonebwoy and many more should be taking about.
But another problem is that @NAkufoAddo is not a listen person he got the power to recover all his lost hmmmm
— R.H.R💡 CHELSEA💙🤍💙 (@RashidRidwanu) July 3, 2023
I agree with you. Sadly, he doesn’t read tweets unless you use another medium
— Dr King Winter (@I_Am_Winter) July 3, 2023
Until you experience it you’ll never know how wicked, unreasonable, envious, hypocritical and corrupt those at the Tema Port are. I vowed never to send car to Ghana again. Thank you for voicing out this issue of import taxes and the corruption.
— KapeQueen (@EffiePeavy) July 4, 2023
The question that you should be asked is where are all these duties money going. I love my country but how can we prosper when in some cases the duty fee is more than the item?
— Freddy Kwabena Amo Boateng (@KwabenaFreddy) July 3, 2023
