QUESTION OF THE DAY
The consumer needs to be protected in terms of food safety, food security and price stability. Where there is no food safety, food security and price stability the consumer must become the casualty.
It is not uncommon for consumers to buy bags of potatoes, onions and so on, and discover many rotten ones. Some try to peel the mouldy part of potatoes and sell them to consumers. Mouldy nuts are sometimes ground into groundnut butter and sold to consumers. Imported cattle organs such as liver, the legs that are frozen and defrozen several times are sold to consumers as locally produced meat products. The story goes on and on into question of food safety.
The recent finding of the GCCPC of bags of rice containing less kilos than indicated and other reports indicating rice of different quality being put in bags and sold as rice of more expensive quality is common. All these point out to problems of food security. The fluctuation of prices of commodities in stock also points out to price instability.
This development confirms the need for consumer protection. Foroyaa intends to play a pioneering role as a media establishment to promote food safety, food security and price safety. They will prepare reporters who constantly monitor food stock controlled by wholesalers, both importers and domestic stock controllers, identify their main retailers, interview consumers of essential commodities in order to monitor the level of food security, food safety and price stability. If the state cares about its integrity it will create mechanism to ensure food safety, food security and price stability. If civil society is interested in protecting the interest of the public it will also establish mechanism to pursue compliance with food safety, food security and price stability. We are all in it together. Unless we work and eliminate fraudsters, consumers will be skinned alive. Enough is enough and all of us must work together for consumer protection.
Foroyaa will interview some of the consumer protection organisation to find out the state of readiness to pursue consumer protection.
