GUTA refuses engagement with Nigerian traders in Ghana

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has expressed its unpreparedness to engage with Nigerian traders in Ghana following the name-calling it has been subjected to by the latter.

GUTA said members of the Nigerian Traders Association, Ghana (NUTAG) have at every opportunity hurled insults at them over their insistence in stopping foreigners’ involvement in the retail market in Ghana.

The two associations have been in bad terms following series of actions taken by GUTA to stop the Nigerians from trading within the retail space, most of it involving forceful closure of their shops.

There have been calls for the two to meet and resolve their challenges to work cordially but GUTA has expressed its unwillingness to be part of such meeting due to NUTAG’s posturing.

The President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, said he is disappointed in the posture of the Nigerian traders.

“Anytime they’ve gotten the opportunity to speak, they seek to insult our integrity and that is not acceptable. They call us thugs, disgruntled elements and all that. What we are saying is that, what they seek to portray to Ghanaians is that our actions are unlawful. We are also saying is that whatever thing we are doing is legal and very lawful,” he told Citi News.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian traders have made an open appeal to President Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately intervene in the fracas between the two.

The traders at a recent press conference said they have endured “consistent harassment” since 2007 at the hands of GUTA and want President Nana Akufo-Addo to re-look the laws GUTA takes advantage of to harass them.

“I can say that GUTA doesn’t speak for most likely 70 percent of Ghanaian traders and most likely 90 percent of Ghanaian consumers. They are trying to get themselves to be a terrorist organization. Whatever they are doing is not in the best interest of Ghana. Ghanaians don’t support it.”

“So I think it’s high time the government looks at the activities and know how to consult them. The government should call them to order and then revisit some of the provisions of the law that they take advantage of to promote this hate agenda,” President of the Ghana Chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization, Ogbonna Kaycey said at the press conference.