Government’s decision to ban the importation of salvaged cars of more than 10 years old is geared towards making the acquisition of vehicles affordable and ensuring the safety of roads across the country, Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said.

The Customs Amendment Bill,2020 which entails the proposal to ban salvaged vehicles over 10 years old was passed on Tuesday, 3 March 2020.

The Bill is expected to be fully passed after the debate of the amendment.

Also, a total revenue of GHS 802million has been estimated by government to be lost after the policy is reviewed.

But the introduction of the bill has been met with stiff resistance from some car dealers who argue it will collapse their businesses.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Tuesday, 3 March 2020, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah expressed government’s stance to pass the bill, saying, it will go ahead with the policy.

“What we want to do is to make cars in Ghana very cheap so the person who is tempted to bring in an over-aged vehicle because it is cheaper- never minding the fact that it leads to a lot of emissions -or someone who will buy a condemned vehicle and assemble can now buy one of the new cheap vehicles manufactured in Ghana. How do we do that? In the investment plan that we will bring and approve, we will negotiate with them [assembly plants] on the sale parameters and prices so that we ensure that we are not pricing out the Ghanaian who wanted to use condemned vehicles which are not safe”, said Mr. Oppong Nkrumah.