Ghanaian
authorities have renewed the siege against foreign traders, as the Ministry of
Trade and Industry, at the weekend clamped down over 40 shops belonging to
Nigerians.
The shops located
at Akanshie, about 200 meters away from the Mokola International Market were
occupied by Nigerians, who traded in bicycle spare parts and other accessories.
According to one of
the affected traders, Mr. Damien Uduba, their shops were stormed by some
officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, who compelled them to pack
their goods and thereafter had the shops under lock and key. The officials were
reported to have secured the shops with their own padlocks, thereby making them
inaccessible to the owners.
Business in the
usually busy area has almost grinded to a halt, as only a few shops said to be
owned by Ghanaians are open.
“Official of the
Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Ghana came yesterday and asked us to close
and pack our things. And afterwards, they locked up all the shops and asked us
to go out of their markets. In fact we are all troubled, we started packing our
things inside the shops, and they locked everything inside and took the keys
away,” Uduba revealed.
A written notice
pasted on the doors of the sealed shops titled “Notice to Non-Ghanaians
engaging in retail business,” instructed them to regularize their businesses
before they would be allowed to continue doing business.
A ruffled Uduba
insisted that he had done all that was required by the Ghanaian law to do
business in the country, “If you see in my hands, I have all the documents, we
are obliged to obtain. This is the document from the Ghanaian government
authorizing me to commence business in the country.
“You can see
another document. This is my Resident Permit, allowing me to reside in the
country. In fact I have all the documents. I pay VAT, IRS and other taxes. I
pay everything and yet they closed my shop. They said I should move out of the
market. I should pack all my things and go back to Nigeria,” he said.
Another affected
trader, Mr. Prince Uzokwu, who also recounted his ordeal at the ministry, said
he was told that he would only be allowed into his shop to pack his goods out
of the place. He was not allowed to continue trading in the area.
Uzokwu recollected
that the area was transformed into a beehive of commerce by the Nigerian
traders stating, “When we came to this place it was virtually empty, but you
know Nigerians. I came and I brought somebody and that person brought another
and within a period of time, the place blossomed into a market.
“So if I go to the
bush or a village to establish again, maybe tomorrow, the place will also turn
into a market and they will come and expel us again. So we don’t know what to
do about it. We are losing business and we have families to fend for,” he
blustered.
Uduba added that
the conciliatory moves by ECOWAS Parliament that brought them some respite may
have been disregarded by the Ghanaian authorities.
Mr. Joseph Obeng,
the National Organizer of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) insisted
that there was nothing like concession. The laws of the country must be
implemented to the letter. In so far as their law had reserved retail
business for Ghanaians alone it must be respected.
Oteng also reasoned
that Ghana cannot forgo her laws when her nationals in other ECOWAS countries
were subject to domicile laws.
The President of
the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG), Deacon John Igwe
Ukala, who expressed surprise at the latest intimidation of Nigerian traders,
explained that he was unaware of any default on the part of their members that
could have prompted the action taken by the Ghanaian authorities.
“I always tell our
members to be law abiding and do as the law of Ghana says. Don’t misbehave
here, pay your tax, pay your VAT, and get your Resident Permit. To my greatest
surprise, when I heard this news yesterday we were really shocked. I cannot
understand the cause of this, because I know our members have complied with
their laws,” he posited.
Ukala said the
closure was targeted at Nigerians, because other foreign nationals, especially
the Lebanese were selling in the markets without molestation, stressing, “As I
am talking to you now, when we go back to the other side of Akanshie, you will
see some whites, especially Lebanese trading.”
Ukala, who claimed
that the traders felt abandoned, because they were regularly intimidated by the
Ghanaian authorities decried the in- action of Nigerian government. He also
asked that ECOWAS should come to their rescue once again.
A source close to
the Ghanaian Trade Ministry, who preferred anonymity, explained that the
country had adopted the posture in order to compel the Nigerian government to
act on certain bureaucratic bottlenecks that were militating against their
trade relations with Nigeria.
For instance, he
cited the fact that some made in Ghana goods were prohibited by the Nigerian
government, an action that was frustrating their bid to engage in more robust
business with Nigeria.
He also made
mention of the fact that their traders were intimidated, harassed and extorted
at the Nigerian border, which has limited Ghanaian penetration into the
Nigerian market.
President John
Mahama, when he was vice president regularly derided Nigeria, because of the
bloated number of security checks at the border, insisting that inter-regional
trade would not strive under such circumstances.
Commenting on the
most recent closure, the Nigerian High Commissioner to the country, Ambassador
Ademola Seyi Onafowokan, had assured the affected traders that he will confer
with the host authorities on their behalf. Therefore, he asked the traders to
be law abiding and be confident that Ghanaians in their magnanimity would allow
them to continue their business.
For those, who
flagrantly disobey the Ghanaian laws, he had no words of reprieve for them, as
he insisted that the government of Nigeria will not countenance lawlessness.
Tags
Politics
If they insisit on sending the Nigerian traders away after the ambassador might have meet with them, then the Nigeria Govt. Should not esitate in sending the Ghanians in Nigeria back to Ghana. Do them Ghana must go.
ReplyDeleteI have never seeing a country where the leader show non challant attitude to the flight of its citizenry like Nigeria, as long as it is not their family any other person can go to HELL!!! Is unfortunate
ReplyDelete