Suame trade ‘war’: Locals vow to chase out foreigners
Traders at Suame Magazine in the Ashanti Region have vowed to resist any attempt to allow foreigners to engage in retail business meant for locals in the area.
Prince Yeboah, one of the traders at Suame, insisted that they will not allow the foreigners to operate.
“We do not want them (foreigners) to involve themselves in any form of retail business,” he told otecfmghana.com.
He explained that the foreigners retail the products to them and simultaneously engage in the sale of the same products at the retail prices directly to consumers at the same markets.
About 500 foreign spare parts dealers at Suame Magazine sought refuge at the Suame Police Station a few days ago, alleging that they were being assaulted by their Ghanaian counterparts.
This prompted the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku to intervene in the matter.
At a meeting on Friday 3 August 2018, to deliberate on restoring peace between local traders and their foreign counterparts, DCOP Mensah Duku called on the traders to exercise restraint and allow peace to prevail.
But the meeting was fruitless as the local traders staged a walkout in protest.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Ghana Association of Garages has registered its displeasure at the behaviour of the local spare parts dealers.
Ghanaian traders have been clamouring for strict adherence to Section 27(1) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, which bans foreigners from participating in trade reserved for local retailers.
