A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Team, Akbar Yussif Rohullah Khomeini, has dismissed a proposal by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) for the establishment of a Rice Development Board, describing it as unnecessary and overly bureaucratic.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, Mr. Khomeini said the proposal adds nothing new to efforts already being pursued by the government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, insisting that the creation of another institution will not solve Ghana’s long-standing challenges in the rice sector.

“This is a proposal to the government because the government has not done it. There is absolutely nothing to pat the government on the back for. I disagree with it, because in this country we have the penchant of resolving a problem with more bureaucracy,” he said.

According to him, Ghana has discussed the same issues in the rice industry for decades without decisive political action.

“This is just an additional bureaucratic layer to resolve a problem that we have been talking about since 1957. There’s a vast amount of literature on this. I am not sure you need a Rice Development Board to achieve this whilst you have the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with its various departments and technical people,” he noted.

Mr. Khomeini argued that what the country needs is political will and a conscious shift in consumer behaviour, not new bureaucratic structures.

“What we need is political will to confront these problems head-on. Apart from the political will, we also need a deliberate shift in our consumption pattern as citizens of this country. You don’t require a Rice Development Board to say that it is important to patronise Made in Ghana,” he stressed.

He further pointed out that previous governments in the Fourth Republic have all issued directives promoting local rice production and consumption, yet the problem persists due to weak enforcement.

“We have had, in this Fourth Republic, various presidential directives—Rawlings’ government had that, Kufuor’s government had that, the Mills government had that, and the Mahama government had that. The Akufo-Addo government has also maintained that directive that government procurement of rice should be done locally to boost local production and competitiveness,” he recounted.

Mr. Khomeini blamed the lack of enforcement and political commitment for the repeated failures to strengthen local rice production and consumption.

“It has always been the lack of strong political will to ensure enforcement and sanctions for violators. That explains why, in the 2024 presidential election, Dr. Bawumia proposed legislation — because what we have been doing actually is policy talk without legislation,” he said.

He praised the former Vice President’s proposal to introduce legislation that would compel state institutions and agencies to prioritise Made-in-Ghana products, including locally grown rice.

“To make it law that requires the government and some state actors to commit to buying Made-in-Ghana products—which includes our local rice production—is the kind of bold action we need,” he stated.

Mr. Khomeini warned that setting up a new board would only create delays and bureaucracy that would stall progress.

“You have to write to this board; they formulate policy, they ask people to write them, and it takes months before it gets there. You don’t need that. What we need is the commitment and the political will of the government to say, 'look, we have talked about this problem since 1957 — it’s time to confront the bull by the horns and ensure that we consume what we produce in this country.' And the citizens must also be willing to partner with the government to achieve that,” he said.