Butchers jailed for high prices

2008-10-07 08:53

Banjul - Five butchers in Gambia, a tiny west African country hard hit by the global food crisis, were sentenced to four months in prison on Monday for hiking up meat prices.

Three Senegalese butchers and two of their Guinean colleagues pleaded guilty to selling a kilo of steak at 120 dalasi instead of the fixed price of 80 dalasi set by Gambian President Yaya Jammeh.

Last week ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan, the eccentric president gave an ultimatum to all butchers to lower the price of meat.

"You either reduce the price of steak from 100 dalasi to 80 dalasi within a period of one week time or else I will deal with anyone caught," Jammeh was quoted as saying by state television.

The butchers in a Banjul court on Monday were convicted for non-compliance with a presidential order, the judge said.

"The selling of meat at exorbitant price is wickedness," said Judge Abdoulie Mbackeh.

In Gambia the prices for basic food items have skyrocketed in the past year. The price of a bag of rice has risen 70 percent while meat prices doubled.

At the end of Ramadan, Muslim families usually prepare a lavish feast to celebrate the end to the fasting. At least 90% of Gambians are Muslims.

- AFP