Traders charge leadership to be proactive

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) wants the leadership of the Association in the Ashanti region to take a lead role in engaging local government authorities to seek the interest of small businesses.

Act 462 of the Local Government Act mandates the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to charge levies, in order to develop their areas of jurisdiction.

But, petty traders and other small business operators in the Kumasi metropolis have not been enthused with the KMA is its new fee-fixing arrangements.

The assembly is presently soliciting concerns from the aggrieved trading public with a view to reviewing its new licence fees and rates.

Speaking to Luv FM, National GUTA President, George Ofori, said it is incumbent on the local GUTA executives to engage the assembly in the process of fixing fees.

He said “if you want a very good policy to be workable, you always need the inputs of the stakeholders and the target group. Without this that law cannot and will not work. It amounts to some form of imposition which in the course of our democratic dispensation, we have passed those areas.

“So I am urging our executives that they also have the right to also go to the Assembly to negotiate the levies with them and I believe if they do that the assemblies or the RCC (Regional Coordinating Council) will also have reason to come to terms with them”.

Meanwhile, GUTA plans to strengthen the capacity of the Kumasi unit to protect the operations of local traders.

by Kofi Adu Domfeh