Wednesday, October 07, 2009
The Togolese authorities have chosen to describe the sale of Ghanaian mobile phone chips in Togo as “illegal” and have issued a stern warning against the selling of the mobile phone chips in the capital, Lome. This is the 21st Century and Togolese should demand respect and foresight from their President. Better still President Eyadema should know that there is a West African Convention on the movement of persons and goods even if he does not care about the comfort of his own people.
There is a booming trade of Ghanaian mobile phone chips in Togo. The Togolese authorities have chosen to describe the trade as “illegal” and have issued a stern warning against the selling of the mobile phone chips in the capital, Lome. The “illegal” trade has boomed because of the closure of the country’s second largest mobile phone telecommunication service provider MOOV about a month ago. Over 150,000 Togolese cell phone users were affected by the closure of MOOV.
Togolese subscribers have resorted to crossing the Aflao border into Ghana for the purchase of MTN, Zain, Kasapa and Tigo mobile phone chips. The Togolese National Frequency Allocation Board has said the police will arrest anybody caught dealing with these illegal trade. So should our neighbours in Togo be punished for the inefficiency of the country’s telecoms operator? Have the Togolese authorities calculate the cost of enforcing such stupid regulations? One would have thought the new President in Togo would be smarter than his despotic father who held that country to ransom for close to four decades.
This is the 21st Century and Togolese should demand respect and foresight from their President. Better still President Eyadema should know that there is a West African Convention of the movement of persons and goods even if he does not care about the comfort of his own people.