Leader of the New Force Movement, Nana Kwame Bediako, has pledged to eliminate excessive taxes imposed on Ghanaian traders if he is elected President in the upcoming 2024 General Elections.
According to him, these taxes are severely hindering the wealth generation potential of traders, leaving them in hardship.
He made the comments during an introductory meeting with the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) in Accra, to understand the current challenges faced by the union and explore how both parties could work together to develop meaningful policies to address issues within the Ghanaian business landscape.
“I can’t stand here and say that I’ll create free taxes once you start trading, but definitely I’ll look into it and make it reasonable overnight. Because there’s no point if that’s the only job we have as part of the nation, thus, importing from other countries then at the end of the day, we spend 60 or 70% and by the time we sell, the 30% profit we’re supposed to make is gone either by interest from what we borrowed or by just living the hard life. So, I would definitely revise the taxes.”
He also mentioned plans to impose embargoes on foreign traders operating within the country, with the aim of ensuring that wealth generated remains within Ghana.
“I want to infuse industrialization into your trading, that a lot of things that you go to China to bring would be made here and you would be able to distribute it. But before I implement that plan, I’d have to place an embargo for you traders by stopping the outsiders who are invading your trading in the country,” he said.
President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, also laid before the New Force Team, some major challenges being faced by traders.
Notable among those mentioned were the exchange rate of the dollar against the cedi and the high charges within the current duty system.
He urged Bediako to include measures to stabilize the cedi and also simplify the duty system in his presidential manifesto to ensure its timely compliance among traders, entrepreneurs, and industrialists.
“Our major concern as businesses now are with exchange rates. If there’s no stability in your currency, you cannot even industrialize because the products of your industry is not going to be competitive in the sub-region. So, there’s a need therefore that we do everything to stabilize our currency. Our capital is being spirited away and now we have crossed the threshold of 15 cedis to a dollar.
“We are also proposing that our tax and duty system be simplified and thrown down to the barest minimum to make tax payment affordable and that will definitely ensure compliance”.