GUTA locks up shops in Accra: Patrons get stranded
Some patrons who went to the business enclaves in Accra to buy items yesterday[October 19, 2022] were left stranded because of the closure of shops by members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).
Dejection, desperation and frustration were the mood of the patrons, some of whom had travelled long distances to do business in Accra, only to be met with locked-up shops.
Advertisement
The frustrated traders had to turn away in disappointment as they could not get access to the merchandise.
When the Daily Graphic visited business enclaves, such as Abossey-Okai, the central business district (CBD) and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, between 8 a.m. and 12 noon yesterday, it observed that the usual bustling atmosphere at those places was absent.
Rationale
The closure of the shops by the GUTA members follows what they described as "a killer business environment" which they said was negatively affecting their operations.
They also demanded that the government reduce interest rates, address the depreciating cedi and increasing inflation rates.
The Abossey-Okai Spare Parts enclave, which is a beehive of human activities on a normal day, was less busy, as almost all the shops were closed.
The handful of people who were seen standing in front of the closed shops expressed disappointment at the current hostile business environment in which they operated.
Some of them said they were in solidarity with the GUTA leadership to push on until their plight was addressed by the government.
At the CBD, the Makola and the Okaishie markets were less busy as well.
A trader, John Abeka, 46, alleged that operators in the ‘black’ market were mainly responsible for the high exchange rates that had affected businesses.
"Those people who engage in black marketeering are the main reason the CFA and the dollar keep rising against the cedi. We cannot even plan our finances because the dollar rate keeps changing every hour," he said.
Another trader, Gifty Anim, pleaded with the President to intervene, saying: “We cannot even break even; our businesses are collapsing."
At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the story was not different, as many shops had been locked up.
Shop owners accused the government of "doing little" to protect their businesses.
"The dollar is running like a horse and the cedi is crawling like a tortoise; how can local businesses perform well?" a 35-year-old dealer in mobile phones, Emmanuel Ekow Barnes, quizzed.
IGP visits
Following the closure of the shops, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, visited the CBD, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Abossey-Okai, where he interacted with the leadership of GUTA.
The GUTA President, Dr Joseph Obeng, said the visit by the IGP was to ensure that their action did not create insecurity in the country.
"He was happy with the way our people conducted themselves peacefully and urged us to ensure that we do not do anything untoward to disturb the public order,” Dr Obeng said.
He said the association was not out to make the government unpopular but to let the people know the reality on the ground as far as the prices of goods were concerned.
"We are making a statement for the consuming public to know that we are not responsible for the price hikes. We want consumers to know that it is the high interest rate, the depreciation of the local currency and inflation that account for the high prices," he added.
He said it was worrying that interest rates took about 38 per cent of traders’ capital, while the cedi had also depreciated by some 52.3 per cent, with inflation also jumping to about 38 per cent.
According to the GUTA President, the association was united in its pursuit of better conditions of trade, and that the public should not pay attention to speculations by some people “acting with parochial interests”.
The First Vice-President of GUTA, who is also a spare parts dealer at Abossey-Okai, Clement Boateng, said the closure of the shops was a demonstration of the collective resolve of the business community to register its discontent at the prevailing situation.