Ivory Coast border closed to Ghana but GIS denies claim

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Created on Monday, 29 September 2014 00:00

Ivory Coast border closed to Ghana but GIS denies claim

29 September 2014

Reports coming from the Ghana-Ivory Coast border suggest that the Ivorian officials have closed their border to Ghana preventing free movement of persons and goods.

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But immigration officials in Ghana have denied the closure of the border, noting, movements across the borders are normal.

Head of Public Relations at the Ghana Immigration Service, Francis Palm Deti told Joy News “our men indicate that the movement across the borders is normal. It’s true that the roads at Elubo are a bit narrow but when the trucks park, they cause a bit of inconvenience but there’s movement.”

He continued the Service had information Saturday that haulage truck drivers plying the Ghana border into Ivory Coast had some challenges undergoing customs processing at the French border.

The drivers, according to Mr. Palm Deti, felt frustrated by the delays in the processing of their documents.

In the event, they were made to park their trucks in a manner, which blocked traffic on both directions, holding up traffic to more than two hours.

“The matter has been resolved and everything has been restored to normalcy. So, as I speak the borders are not closed and there’s movement across the borders,” Mr. Deti said.

Joy News’ correspondent Kwaku Owusu Peprah, who spoke to a source at the border however, confirmed that the haulage trucks had been blocked from entering the other side of the border.

The French authorities suspected goods contained in those trucks were not shipped through the Ivorian habour, hence the decision to stop them from entering the country.

Their intention was to give direct escort to those trucks into Ivory Coast to undergo an entirely new customs processing.

But Mr. Deti explained the situation of goods fell within the ambit of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).

“And I think that they will be in the better place to explain what the Ivorian custom officials are complaining about,” he said.

Source: Myjoyonline.com