The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has defend its members who locked up shops of Nigerian traders at the Suame Magazine in the Ashanti region.
About twenty shops belonging to Nigerian retail traders have been locked since Monday by Ghanaian traders at the Suame Magazine, who accuse their Nigerian counterparts of illegally engaging in retail business.
GUTA had ordered their members in Accra and Kumasi to close their shops, citing amongst others the involvement of foreigners in retail trade.
The president of GUTA, George Ofori, told Citi News that he believed the actions of the members of the association in Kumasi were justified, stating that the people were only expressing their frustrations over the inability of relevant authorities to act.
He added that the foreign traders “are not entitled to be there… that is what the law says,” and appealed to the to the relevant law enforcement agencies to enforce the laws governing petty trading in the country.
Reports indicate that Ghanaian retailers in the Suame Magazine are going about their business as usual while the Nigerian shops remain closed.
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Traders’ Association, told Citi News that their traders “can’t open the shops because we don’t have the keys,” claiming that the keys had been taken by “those who closed the shops”
He stated that the Nigerian traders hope to avoid any confrontation with their Ghanaian counterparts and have reported the situation to the police.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana