Business Slumps in Tamale

Four months of curfew in Dagbon is taking its toll on business in the Tamale municipality.

Entrepreneurs are distressed and are appealing to government to review the curfew period.

Business and other economic activities have slumped in the northern regional capital, which serves as a transit point for traders and travellers from the south to the two upper regions and vice versa.

Hardest hit are the hospitality industries (hotels, guest houses and lodges) and catering services (restaurants and chop bars).

They are experiencing a total decline in clientele who are mostly expatriates and tourists.

Roadside traders in the municipality, especially food and tea sellers, who do their business at night serving travellers, complain that they are slowly running out of business.

Indeed, some tea sellers have suspended their operations as they have hitherto been selling mostly late in the night and early mornings.

In a random survey by Chronicle, respondents blamed the sharp decline in business on the declaration of the state of emergency and curfew on the Tamale municipality and the Dagbon state, and called for a review of the curfew hours from at least 10:00 pm to 5:00 am.

Currently, it is 9:00 pm to 5:00 am. On March 25, this year, President J. A. Kufuor declared the state of emergency and curfew in the area following the Yendi chieftaincy conflict in which the Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, Paramount Chief of the Dagomba Traditional Area, was murdered.

Almost all the businessmen and women Chronicle talked to complained of diminishing returns in their businesses since the curfew was imposed.

According to the big-time entrepreneurs, the unexpected economic slump resulting from the state of emergency and curfew has seriously affected their profit margins; consequently, they fear that they would not be able to meet their tax obligations fully this year.

Picorna Hotel, for instance, which is in the show business, has been making huge losses in earnings since the imposition of the curfew.

According to a spokesperson of Picorna, this situation has caused a rift between management and the hotel's suppliers of drinks as low patronage has caused hold-ups in the settlement of bills to the suppliers.

Citing Picorna's popular cinema hall and nightclub, the spokesperson had this to say: "They are like ghost towns as everything is dead."

She explained that some of the hotel's clients who make reservations for rooms and meals, end up sleeping at the last barrier before entering Tamale from the south when caught by the curfew, thereby accumulating unsettled bills which affects management.

A leading restaurant in Tamale, Sparkles, complains of not only losing its numerous customers, but also potential business partners.

"The bulk of our patrons who are tourists and expatriates had made advance bookings for meals but abandoned the trip to Tamale because of the curfew," lamented one spokesperson.

Giddipas, another restaurant in the central business area of Tamale, which made sales amounting to ?1.5 million daily, now makes only about ?300,000.

The accountant disclosed that the spacious hall of Giddipas, which usually catered for passing-out ceremonies for seamstresses and hairdressers, is no more functional, adding, "It was one of our major sources of revenue."

The situation is no different with taxi drivers.

According to the local GPRTU chairman for the main taxi rank, the situation is appalling, as the rank is choked with day and night drivers who have all been compelled to ply their trade during the day to eke out a living.

He said this has come about because of the curfew, which has caused congestion in the taxi ranks, adding that the drivers are unable to service their cars or even carry out routine changing of oil and there is the fear that most of the cars would soon break down.

The marketing officer of Radio Savanna Tamale (RST) also complained that the curfew has caused a great loss in revenue generation as advertisements have declined by more than 60 per cent.

Indeed, the curfew has affected food sellers in the elementary schools as evidenced in the remark of one of them at the Sakasaka Junior Secondary School (JSS): "Because of the curfew we sell far less than before. The children don't buy as much as they used to, because the curfew has affected the businesses of their parents. Some of them used to work after school to make some money. Now all that has stopped. We beg the government to extend the time to ... 11:00 pm"