Is it an offence to open shops, bars on public holidays?

Dear Mirror Lawyer, My father who is an illiterate opened his drinking bar, supermarket and microfinance office on New Year’s day and was threatened by the chief of the local police in our town that he would close down his shops and prosecute him if he dare open his bar, shop and offices on a holiday again. 

 Is there anything wrong with opening offices, drinking bars and shops on public holidays when people are free and able to do business, shop and drink to make merry?

 James Ahenkora, Oda.

Dear Ahenkora, A public holiday is a holiday generally established by law. Independent nations observe holidays based on events of significance to their history. They vary by country and may vary by year. 

Some countries have over 20 days of official public holidays per year while others have about eight. The public holidays are generally days of celebration, like the anniversary of a significant historical event such as a day of independence, or can be a religious celebration like Christmas. 

Holidays can land on a specific day of the year, be tied to a certain day of the week in a certain month or follow other calendar systems.

Public holidays in Ghana are governed by the Holidays Act, 2001, Act 601 as amended by Act 626. In all, Ghana has 13 public holidays, including New Year’s Day but the President may, in the public interest, by Executive Instrument declare any other day to be a public holiday. 

The law governing public holidays is that all offices, businesses, trading and work related concerns are required to close down and observe the day. 

The law only provides exceptions for certain category of businesses to open on public holidays. 

These are businesses or shops dealing with food or grocery, drugs or pharmacy, licensed restaurants or hotels, local markets for sale of food or foodstuffs, premises licensed for sale of spirit, wine, and beer under the Liquor Licensing Act, 1970 (Act 331), the running of an essential public service specified such as water supply services, electricity supply services, health and hospital services, sanitary services, air traffic and civil aviation control services, meteorological services, fire services, air transport services, supply and distribution of fuel, petrol, power and light, telecommunications services and public transport services.

The punishment for an individual opening a shop or businesses which do not fall under the exceptions on a public holiday is summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both. 

Where the offence is committed by a body of persons such as a limited liability company, every director or officer of that company shall be deemed to have committed that offence and in the case of a partnership or firm, every partner of the partnership or firm shall be deemed to have committed that offence.

In the case of your father, the facts presented by you shows that he opened his drinking bar, supermarket and microfinance office. 

Shops licenced under the Liquor Licensing Act for selling alcoholic beverages fall under the exception in the law. 

This implies that if your father’s drinking bar is licensed under the law he would be right in opening during the New Year’s Day, which is a public holiday. 

In the case of the supermarket, much will depend on the items carried. If it is mostly drinks and food items, it will fall under shops dealing with food or grocery in which case no offence would have been committed by your father for opening on a public holiday. 

However, if the items sold in the supermarket are non-food items, your father would have fallen foul of the law. 

Finally, your father opened his microfinance office. That is a business which is not exempted from the category of shops that can open on public holidays. Your father would then have committed an offence by opening that office on New Year’s Day and the police officer was right in cautioning your father to desist from opening that shop in future.

In fact, the police officer should have arrested and prosecuted your father immediately, since no discretion was given in the law to first warn people before prosecution. He is treating this offence as a misdemeanor which could be settled peacefully under the Courts Act and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act. Illiteracy and ignorance of the law are no excuses for breaches of the law. 

Source: Daily Graphic