Despite the official closures of Ghana’s land and sea borders by President Nana Akufo-Addo, people continue to travel by road from Liberia to Ghana, African Entertainment has gathered.
This portal has also gathered that people continue to travel by road from the Buduburam Refuge Camp in the Central Region, to Liberia through unapproved routes with the alleged assistance of some Ghanaian national security operatives who are actually supposed to prevent such illegal travels.
African entertainment spoke to a number of people on the Buduburam Refugee Camp on Friday, February 12, 2021, who confirmed on condition of anonymity that people are traveling regularly by road from Liberia to Ghana and from Ghana to Liberia.
“No. People going and coming every week”, one source told African Entertainment when asked if it wasn’t risky to use the illegal routes to travel to Ghana or travel out of Ghana.
Fare, Bribes Payments
Sources told African Entertainment that travelers from the camp to Liberia were being charged an amount of $250 per passenger.
The $250 fare, sources say, caters for ‘bribes’ payments to Ghanaian security officials at the exit or entry points which are actually supposed to be illegal routes.
“Once you pay the $250, you don’t have to worry about any documentations or security checks on the road. The driver will take care of everything and pay part of the money to the Ghanaian security personnel to enable you cross over to Ghana or to Cote d’Ivoire,” one source said.
African Entertainment further gathered once a passenger pays the $250, he or she is not transported to Liberia in a direct car like it was the case previously.
As a means to cover up the alleged shady deal, the passengers are first being conveyed to the exit points on Ghana side and made to cross over to Côte d’Ivoire with the alleged assistance of Ghanaian national security operatives. Once the passengers cross over to Côte d’Ivoire, another car then conveys them to Liberia.
Sources say before the closure of Ghana’s land borders in March 2020, travelers from the Buduburam Refugee Camp were being charged $150 each to be conveyed directly to Liberia by road in long buses.
However, due to the ‘bribes payments’ to security personnel, the fare per passenger has been increased by $100.
In 2020, personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces and other security officers were deployed to some entry points across the country to prevent illegal travel to Ghana.
Background to border closure
At the time President Akufo-Addo closed the land and sea borders in March 2020, Ghana had recorded just about three confirmed coronavirus cases. The move to close the borders was aimed at preventing the importation of coronavirus to Ghana.
Ghana has since March 2020, recorded 533 Covid-19 deaths, and 75,836 confirmed cases.
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