By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) says it is disappointed in successive governments for failing to enforce laws regulating local trade and international commerce.
The group has thus warned that it will not sit back and allow foreigners to compete directly with local traders in market spaces across the country going forward.
Section 27(1) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act prohibits non-citizens from engaging in petty trading, hawking, or selling goods in stalls and markets.
Despite this provision, foreigners continue to engage in retail trading in areas such as Abossey Okai and many other places, undermining indigenous entrepreneurship and threatening the livelihoods of local traders.
The National 1st Vice Chairman of GUTA, Mr. Clement Boateng, speaking in an interview on Accra-based Onua FM, explained that the failure by successive governments to deal with the issue has emboldened foreign traders to dominate retail spaces, particularly in Accra’s Abossey Okai market, leaving many Ghanaians struggling to sustain their businesses.
“It will get to a point where local traders will take the law into their own hands and start closing the shops of foreigners operating in Ghana. As citizens, we also have the right to enforce the laws as long as they exist. But we do not want to do that because it creates chaos,” Mr. Boateng cautioned.
He stressed that GUTA expects government agencies to act promptly whenever concerns are raised, but authorities have failed to address the situation even after GUTA publicly voiced its frustrations.
Mr. Boateng also raised concerns about the rising cost of shops, noting that landlords prefer renting to foreigners who can pay higher prices, leaving locals at a disadvantage.
“Stalls have become so expensive. When a landlord quotes a price for a local trader, the next day you find the space occupied by a foreigner who has paid a higher price. By law, landlords are not supposed to rent out property to foreigners for petty trading.
If the government had imprisoned one or two landlords, it would have deterred others. But even when we report such cases to the police, no action is taken,” he lamented.
GUTA has therefore called on the government and relevant security agencies to urgently enforce existing trade laws to protect Ghanaian traders from what it describes as “unfair competition” from foreign nationals.
