<<Print>>

Has it ever occurred to you to find out if the kind of bush meat you are being served at the �chop bar� or restaurant is indeed what you asked for? Mind blowing investigations conducted by the DAILY GUIDE in the Upper East Region revealed that unsuspecting Ghanaians whose delicacy is game meat, popularly called bush meat, may be consuming donkeys contrary to what they may be bargaining for. According to our investigations, as a result of the high demand for bush meat in �chop bars� and restaurants in Southern Ghana, donkey meat which is very cheap had been substituted by those in the meat business in the region in order to make huge profits. The high cost of game meat in view of its large patronage in Ghana, our finding uncovered, had also accounted for the shift. The operators carry out their modus operandi by going round communities within the three Northern Regions and buy these donkeys ranging between GH�200 to GH�300. After purchasing these donkeys, they transport them to Bolgatanga, the regional capital, where they are prepared, packaged and transported to the marketing centres in Accra and Kumasi for sale. It was discovered that before the animals are killed, they are blindfolded and reasons given are that, the executioners and the donkey must not sight each other as the beast could rain curses on its killers once it sees them. The donkey afterwards is strangled to death by about six strong men, after which the fur is removed and then chopped into sizeable pieces. The chopped pieces are smoked and packaged as smoked beef, deer, antelope, zebra or any other game which is on high demand for transport. The smoked meat at this stage on arrival at its final destination, be it Accra or Kumasi, is sold as bush meat to major �chop bars� operators. Our investigations also revealed that the meat itself is not patronized in the region owing to many reasons, but the offals are used for light soup and served as delicacies in selected pito bars. Atugubabisi, Doba and Nawumaye, all suburbs within the Bolgatanga Municipality, are some of the major areas, where this business thrives most. Daily Guide in an interaction with a farmer in the Kasena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region, indicated how good the business was, considering the profit margin he made on each trip. He disclosed that before he embarked on each trip weekly, he killed about 50 donkeys depending on the demand, adding, there was always a ready market for them in Accra and Kumasi. He declined to mention who his customers were in Accra and Kumasi but indicated that business was booming. On why they did not disclose the type of meat to their clientele, the dealer disclosed that the meat was never forbidden and that it tasted better than bush meat, which they (clientele) could also testify to.