Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry has called on the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) to remain calm whiles government tries to resolve the issue of foreigners engaging in retail business. “We share in your pain, position and worries, which is of big concern to government”
Mr Ahenkorah made the call when he spoke to the media after appearing before the Public Account Committee (PAC) to answer questions on the 2016 Auditor General’s Report. The GUTA recently protested about the influx of foreigners in the retail business, demanding action against these non-nationals involved in the retail trade.
Mr Ahenkorah said despite government’s concern for local retailers, it cannot act arbitrarily by driving out foreigners from the retail business. He therefore asked GUTA members to exercise restraint whiles government tries to use administrative and political means to solve the problem.
Mr Ahenkorah also stated that government has managed to bring down the tension between some Ghanaian traders and some foreign retailers. He said Ghana was a member of ECOWAS and as such must go by the tenets of the treaty, which does not allow countries to discriminate against each other’s nationals. He hinted that the President of the ECOWAS Commission has sent emissaries to confer with the Ghanaian authorities on the situation.
Mr Ahenkorah also charged the foreign retailers to observe all the laws and regulations that controls the retail business in the country, and urged them to be law abiding by respecting the laws of Ghana.
GNA
