The CPA, along with the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS Ghana), is looking to raise 20,000 signatures for a petition to compel the government to take some urgent and concrete action on the Consumer Protection Bill.

“When the people demand something, it behooves the government in power to heed the cry of the people,” he said on the Citi Breakfast Show.

Mr. Kapito reiterated that the passage of the Bill will ensure that consumers are guaranteed the right to information, the right to safety, the right to protection and the right to being compensated in line with best practices worldwide.

But without any consumer protection law, he lamented that there was little or no structure to protect consumers.

“In Ghana, we don’t have one document that deals with consumer protection or an agency in charge of consumer protection. Even though we have some laws and the laws are scattered in various institutions like the PURC [Public Utilities Regulatory Commission], the NCA [National Communications Authority], the Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority, all these agencies have some unique skills to protect consumers but because they are in the individual institutions, they don’t protect the consumer as a whole.”

“…So what the CPA has been advocating is to have a consumer Bill that will be given to a consumer commission or commissioners so that it will be like an ombudsman like CHRAJ [the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice] or any other independent institution that seeks to make sure the laws of Ghana are enforced,” Mr. Kapito said.

As an example of one of the failings on the Ghanaian market, Mr. Kapito cited the fact Ghanaian companies never recall products when alerts have been issued globally.

“This is a country that when there is an international recall, a worldwide recall, the company or agents in Ghana will have the audacity to come and tell you and me that Ghana is not part of it.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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His advise comes following several complaints of poor service at some embassies, and this was highlighted by a statement from the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

[contextly_sidebar id=”XHDtD9ruC94Ez5yZv18KAYv0w6QL3Zc0″]The CPA at a press conference held at its premises, said it will compile these reports and meet with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a bid to find a lasting solution.

The Executive Director of the CPA, Kofi Kapito, speaking at the press conference, said ‘The CPA like we said, we have engaged various people; we want to collect evidence  – I don’t want any ‘connection man’ – I want genuine people who have genuine cases for them to contact us so that we will be able to collect the evidence and present it in our next meeting.’

‘Stop poor treatment of Ghanaians in embassies must stop ‘

Some minority members of Parliament have called on government to hold foreign missions accountable over reports of inhumane treatment meted out to Ghanaians.

Without singling out any particular embassy, the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, noted that the situation could affect diplomatic relations in Ghana if not checked.

Making a statement on the floor of Parliament, the North Tongu MP said: “the blot I speak of is the shabby and dehumanizing treatment sometimes meted out to many Ghanaian applicants virtually on a daily basis.”

He added that “there is also what many Ghanaian visa applicants consider to be extortionist conduct on the part of some of these embassies.”

Mr Ablakwa noted that, most embassies have made “no provision for a decent and safe waiting area where visa applicants may be hosted as they wait their turn during visa interview appointments.”

The calls from the MPs prompted the Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye, to direct the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament to immediately investigate claims that Ghanaians are being maltreated at some foreign missions in the country.

He directed the Foreign Affairs Committee to meet and deliberate on the issue, and visit some of the embassies

“Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs shall meet and deliberate on this matter through investigation and interrogation; and armed with a letter from the Speaker’s Office, they shall visit relevant embassies and places, analyse the problem, where necessary with the cooperation of Embassy staff, and our own foreign office, but independent of it, and report back to the House,” the Speaker said.

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By: Michael Ogbodu/citifmonine.com/Ghana

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