Kweku Baako, Kofi Bentil give solutions to Ghana/Nigeria row

The Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr and IMANI Vice President, Kofi Bentil have waded into the row between Nigeria and Ghana businessmen and women.

A number of Nigerian traders in Suame Magazine in Kumasi deserted their shops after over fifty of them were closed down by some rampaging Ghanaian retailers over their involvement in local retail trade.

The mob went around to forcefully order the closure of the shops while other reports claim they ransacked some of the shops.

Benjamin Yeboah, the National Welfare Officer of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) while expressing regret over the actions of the retailers said that its members acted out of frustration and the failure of authorities to enforce laws that ensure that foreign traders in the country comply with existing laws; the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act which limits retailing in Ghana to only Ghanaians.

Reacting to this on Joy Newsfile programme, Kofi Bentil proposed ‘reciprocity’ to end the tension between the two countries

According to him, there should be a meeting between the two countries where whatever Nigerians agree will be reciprocated by Ghanaians and vice versa.

Kweku Baako agreeing to Mr Bentil’s proposal added that there should be a ‘combination of diplomacy and law enforcement’

“if we realize that these laws are in conflict with the ECOWAS protocol, diplomacy must come in…let the two countries talk…beyond that let legislative bodies do the appropriate domestication” he suggested.