Private legal practitioner Victoria Bright has called for strict enforcement of the government’s ‘Buy Ghana’ directive, warning that the policy could fail without a deliberate attempt to ensure full compliance.
Her comments follow the President’s directive requiring public institutions to prioritise the purchase of locally produced goods.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, she said the directive is a step in the right direction but emphasised that implementation must be taken seriously to achieve real impact.
“It isn’t the first time we have had this kind of directive. It is the right move because we have to get to a point where it’s actually implemented,” Ms. Bright said.
She noted that despite years of promoting the ‘Buy Ghana’ agenda, the country continues to rely heavily on food imports.
“For years we have been talking about ‘Buy Ghana’, but at the same time we’ve also been importing billions in food that we should actually be producing ourselves,” she added.
Ms. Bright stressed that measurable compliance is critical to the policy’s success.
“If this directive is to be taken seriously, then it’s important that it’s followed through in such a way that we can measure whether these public institutions and agencies are actually buying Ghana—buying Ghanaian produce—and not to start doing that and, as soon as they feel that nobody is monitoring, quietly go back to the old way because it’s easier, it’s more convenient, or somebody is deriving some personal benefit from it.”
She said proper enforcement could transform agriculture, create jobs, and reduce the country’s food import bill.
“If we can seriously do this and transform agriculture and create jobs, then we will actually succeed in reducing our food import bill, which is where we are trying to get to. We need to reduce that food import bill because we can produce a lot of these things and contribute to the stabilisation of our cedi,” Ms. Bright added.
She emphasised that enforcement remains the decisive factor.
“But of course this can only happen if it is enforced. So, I think that for me enforcement is key, and I’m hoping that the President’s directive actually sparks a structural shift from us just talking about food sovereignty to actually building food sovereignty,” Ms. Bright said.