GUTA denies harassing Nigerian business owners, urges Ecowas to probe claims

• Posted on September 28, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has denied allegations that they are harassing Nigerian business owners in Ghana.

Some Nigerians staged a demonstration in Abuja on Monday to protest what they consider as intimidation of Nigerian businesses in Ghana.

They claimed Ghanaian authorities have so far closed some 400 shops belonging to their compatriots.

The Punch Newspaper in Nigeria reported on its portal that the protesters who took to the streets on Monday handed over a petition to the Economic Community of West African States’ secretariat located in Abuja.

The protesters held placards with various inscriptions some of which read: ‘We need ECOWAS intervention’, ‘Ghana re-open Nigeria’s shops now’, ‘ECOWAS, the situation in Ghana is totally unacceptable’, and ‘Ghana wants AFCTA secretariat but clamps on African traders’ among others.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, however, President of GUTA, Joseph Kwaku Obeng, insisted Nigerian traders who were complying with directives regarding operation of foreign businesses in Ghana were being treated fairly.

He believes complaints of unfair treatment were coming from foreign traders who were flouting the rules on the conduct of foreign businesses in the country.

“Those who are doing the right thing have been exempted. Even in Kumasi, so many people have been exempted.. Those who have closed their shops have done so because they are afraid they do not have VAT tax numbers. Nobody is chasing anybody. We have been very civil.”

According to him, some Nigerians sought arbitration over similar concerns in the past but lost out to Ghana.

He thus urged ECOWAS to investigate the matter and find out whether indeed the prototcals that have been signed on free trade by member countries were being adhered to accordingly.

Non-Ghanaians in retail trade were ordered to leave the Ghanaian markets by July 27, 2018, or face the wrath of the government.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry which gave the order in a statement threatened to take legal action against recalcitrant non-Ghanaians who fail to adhere to the directive.

According to the Ministry, non-Ghanaians in retail infringes the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) law.

Per Section 27 (1) of the GIPC Act, a person who is not a citizen or an enterprise which is not wholly owned by a citizen shall not invest or participate in the sale of goods or provision of services in a market, petty trading or hawking or selling of goods in a stall at any place.

The Ministry of Trade later did a U-turn on the directive citing inadequate sensitization as the reason for the suspension.

There were tensions at Suame Magazine in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region as local retailers vowed to evict foreigners who operate within the enclave.

But government and the security agencies quickly stepped in to forestall any further attacks.

The supposed attacks on Nigerian shops were also condemned by the Ghana National Association of Garages.

Source: CNR