Consumer Protection Bill needs urgent attention — 2 CSOs

Two civil society organisations, CUTS International and the Consumer Protection Agency, have expressed deep concerns over the delay in the passage of the Consumer Protection Bill, attributing the slow progress to the lack of interest by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).

The CUTS and the agency believe that without swift action, the bill might not be passed within the current Parliament's term.

Ghana started the process of getting a Consumer Protection Law in 2005 and for 19 years since the process started, the document has still not made any progress.

Stakeholder consultation

The Director of West African Regional Centre of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency, Koffi Kapito, expressed their displeasure at the delays at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

The agency's CEO urged the Minister of Trade and Industry, K. T. Hammond, to expedite the finalisation of the draft bill.

He also called for the necessary stakeholder consultations to be conducted, emphasising the importance of prioritising the bill's introduction to Parliament when it reconvenes next month.

“We urge the Speaker of Parliament, Majority and Minority Leaders and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism to prioritise the passage of the bill on the Parliamentary calendar.

“We urge the MOTI and the government to provide the needed logistics for the Parliament Select Committee to be able to meet and consider the bill in record time,” Mr Kapito said.

“We further urge our lawmakers to approach this legislation with the seriousness it deserves. This is not just another bill; it is a lifeline for millions of Ghanaians.

“We need a law that is strong, comprehensive and enforceable — one that truly protects consumers from all forms of unfair business conduct,” Mr Kapito stressed.

He stated that the absence of a Consumer Protection Law in the country had contributed to the widespread and deliberate abuse of consumer rights in the country.

Mr Kapito explained that consumer rights were fundamental human rights, which the state had a binding duty to promote, protect and safeguard through the enactment of laws and their enforcement.

Since 2017, he said, the bill had been listed among the list of bills to be received by Parliament.

“However, checks indicated that the bill has never made its way to Parliament.

IMF conditionality

Without the legal framework that a Consumer Protection Law would provide, countless individuals and citizens would continue to suffer from substandard goods, deceptive marketing, exploitative pricing and other forms of unethical business conduct.

“This situation is unacceptable, and it must be addressed immediately. Unfortunately, before a law is passed in this country, either it must have the strong backing of the government or it must be part of the World Bank or an IMF conditionality.

“Our checks have indicated to us that the Affirmative Action Act that was enacted by Parliament recently was part of the IMF conditionalities. Do we need an IMF or a foreign country to tell our government that the Consumer Protection Bill is good to protect Ghanaians from unlawful and unfair business conduct?” he questioned.

Action now

For his part, Mr Adomako said: “The last time I checked, the draft document of the bill had gathered dust simply because the Trades Ministry is not interested in getting it passed, but you cannot be doing trading without protecting consumers.”

“Parliament is supposed to resume very soon and a number of bills have been listed for consideration, but we are disappointed that the consumer protection bill is not part of it,” he said.

Mr Adomako stressed that if the bill was not passed by the current Parliament, it would suffer a major setback going forward.

It was worrying that while there was the Corporate Restructuring Law that protected businesses against liquidity, there were no laws that protected consumers' rights, he added.