GUTA strike: Traders lock out buyers

Charles Andoh & Rebecca Omaboe Jun - 25 - 2014 , 03:34

Members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) yesterday gave meaning to the resolve given by their leadership to close down their shops in Accra and Kumasi for four days.

But the Ministry of Trade and Industry has asked the traders to return to the negotiation table to resolve all problems militating against their businesses.

A visit by the Daily Graphic to the central business district (CBD) of Accra revealed that a number of shops had been closed down.

At the Rawlings Park, almost every shop had been closed down and business was non-existent, compared to normal days.

The Okaishie Market, the Drug Store Lane, as well as the Makola Shopping Centre, were no exception, as most of the shops there were under lock and key.

However, at the Makola Shopping Mall, traders had opened their shops to customers but business was moving at a slow pace.

Shop owners

Some shop owners who spoke to the Daily Graphic expressed anger and dissatisfaction at the policies of the government.

“We have decided to go strictly by what our leaders have said. The situation is really affecting us and so we have all agreed to close down our shops,” Samuel Arthur, a shop attendant, said.

According to Mrs Habiba Sayid Busumburu, “We will comply with the directives of our leadership, no matter the hardships that we may be going through. This is better than the heavy depreciation of the cedi which is rather affecting our business.”

“The government should listen to our pleas because our businesses are collapsing,” she added.

Few shops opened

However, a few traders defied the orders of the GUTA leadership to open their shops.

Some of those people were either ignorant of the directive or felt the closure could have dire consequences for their businesses.

Impact on head porters

The closure of the shops also virtually brought to a halt the activities of head porters (Kayaye). A number of them were seen sitting idle early in the morning because there were no loads from the shops for them to convey from one end to the other.

Some policemen had been deployed to the CBD to maintain law and order and give protection to traders who might want to open their shops but feared victimisation.

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the police were there to ensure that the rights of everyone were respected and protected.

In Kumasi, the situation was not different from that of Accra.

Many shops in the CBD of Kumasi and its surrounding areas also closed down, reports Donald Ato Dapatem, Kumasi.

Kayaye, cargo vehicle drivers and shoppers became unproductive and gathered in clusters to chat among themselves.

When the Daily Graphic visited the shopping areas around 10:30 a.m., workers at the various shops and the owners were seen around, while others, especially those dealing in cosmetics, had partially opened.

Most of them believed that the strike was for four days but others suggested it should last only for a day.

Stranded shoppers expressed missed feelings: while others believed that the action of the traders was in the interest of all Ghanaians, some felt the action would affect their daily bread.

Ministry’s response

Meanwhile, the outgoing Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has asked members of GUTA to return to the negotiation table to resolve any problems militating against their businesses, reports Zainabu Issah.

“Let me take this opportunity to tell the GUTA members that this ministry is open for any sort of discussion which will go to enhance and facilitate their businesses,” he said.

Shocking decision

Mr Vanderpuye, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, described the decision by GUTA as shocking, especially after the ministry had met with the executive of the association three weeks ago.

He said at the said meeting, both the ministry and the GUTA executive had discussed in detail steps that they would collectively take to deal with the influx of foreigners into the retail trade business.

The issues they discussed, he said, included the modalities that they needed to adopt as a group and as a nation in order to flush out the foreigners and secure the marketplace and retail trade for indigenous Ghanaians.

Ghanaians fronting for foreigners

Mr Vanderpuye said one of the difficulties that both parties encountered at the meeting was the fact that some Ghanaians were fronting for the foreigners by claiming that they were the owners of the shops operated by the foreigners.

“There are other situations where some foreign nationals have directly used marriage of convenience and in some instances married Ghanaian women and as such are claiming to be partnering the Ghanaians,” he said.