Dr. Joseph Obeng, president of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), has backed the business owners who have shut their doors in protest against the government in the Ashanti regional capital.
He believed that the Kumasi traders’ current protest was long overdue.
He said that because traders have been experiencing frustration for several months, expressing their displeasure now demonstrates that they require solutions from the government for how to best address the economic situation.
The GUTA President disclosed that other sectors in the trading community will in the coming days join in the demonstration.
Speaking on the demonstration in an interview with GhanaWeb, Dr Joseph Obeng said, “It is well deserved because it is long overdue. You know we were about to embark on a demonstration where the council of state intervened…I told you people were managing frustration but now, frustration is turning into anger. People can no longer wait for excuses apart from solutions to the problems and this is exactly what our people are demanding.”
“They are not the only people. All our members from all sectors are agitating and most of them will follow through with what have started in Kumasi. For now, they told me it [the demonstration] will be three days. They have their legitimate concerns; the exchange rate, VAT issues, interest rate, inflation…all these are the indicators that are hovering negative and these are all affecting us,” he told GhanaWeb’s Ernestina Serwaa Asante.
“We believe government can think outside the box and find some pragmatic solutions to this. It seems nothing is being done about it and the problems are getting out of hand by the day,” Dr Obeng averred.
Some traders in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi on Monday, October 10, 2022 locked up their shops in protest of the free fall of the local currency – Cedi, high cost of doing business, collection of exorbitant taxes by government, among others.
According to the traders within the central business district, the demonstration will last for three days.
They explained that the protest also aims at kicking against the decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.