Civil Society Organisations in the country have called on government to enforce strict controls on essential commodities to prevent price hikes in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Already, the prices of goods such as hand sanitizers and the popular staple, gari, have increased by over 100 percent as people rushed to stock up.

Government has yet to put in place any measures to prevent this from happening but in a statement copied to JoyNews, the CSOs urged the enforcement of “strict price controls on essential commodities and staple foods to prevent the unscrupulous practice of price gouging we saw in the markets in the past few weeks.”

The Organisations also called for the subsidization of essential basic and social services by freezing or reducing tariffs on access to water, electricity, and communication for all citizens.

They want government to “ensure that all expenditures are applied in a responsible, transparent and accountable manner to ensure respective interventions reach the targeted beneficiaries.

“This is very critical since government did not begin its financial year with a budget line for COVID-19, as such every inflow and expenditure towards the crisis must be duly accounted for in a transparent manner,” the statement added.

Read the full copy below: