Some members of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) on Friday, July 24, 2020, clashed with Nigerian traders who are operating illegally at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle despite GUTA’s directive for them to remain closed until they provide legal documents.
Sometime back in December 2019, Ghanaiann traders clashed with their Nigerian counterparts at the Kwame Nkrumah circle and it was one hell of a scene that led some traders injured in the process. All our Ghanaian brothers are saying is that they want the government to enforce the GIPC Act which bars foreigners from engaging in the retail business in the country.
Section 27 of the GIPC Act, 865 prohibits foreigners from engaging in retail business in Ghana. The sale of anything in the market, petty trading, hawking or selling from a kiosk at any place is a wholly reserved activity for Ghanaians and GUTA has accused the government of failing to enforce the law.
In the latest development, reports have it that these Nigerians have taken the law into their own hands by going back to circle to reopen their shops without proper authorization. Some Ghanaians after realizing the act from Nigerians as a result of reopening their shops without proper authorization decided to do the right thing by forcefully closing back their shops. The timely intervention of the police brought the whole drama which was going to escalate into normalcy with Ghanaians calling on the government to act fast.
In an interview, the President of the Association, Dr Joseph Obeng explained that the action of his members was due to a planned legal demonstration on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 which has since been postponed by the Association.
The cancellation of the demonstration comes after GUTA executives met with the Trades Ministry on Thursday, July 23, 2020, to deliberate on the matter which is raising tension in the country.
GUTA on Tuesday authorised all foreign retail traders who are working illegally at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to immediately cease operations.
According to GUTA, these illegal foreign traders have refused to close their shops after the Committee on Foreign Retail Trade embarked on a three-day exercise to cross-check their documents.
The documents presented, Dr Obeng said showed that almost 90 percent of them did not meet the requirements needed to operate in the country.
