Give timelines for implementation of your fixed exchange rate policy – Asaki to Bawumia

The Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association, Sampson Asaki Awingobit has challenged flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to give timelines for the implementation of his fixed exchange rate policy aimed at alleviating forex pressure faced by traders.

Dr. Bawumia who is the incumbent Vice President has indicated that this initiative which is to enhance the business-friendliness of ports, would also mitigate the risk of losing port traffic to neighbouring countries.

Speaking during the town hall meeting with the Pharmaceutical Society and other Pharma Groups, the Vice President emphasized the necessity for businesses, including those in the pharmacy industry, to cultivate a competitive edge to foster economic growth.

“We’re going to change the duty structure and go into more of a flat specific duty. If you have a 40-footer container, you know how much you are paying in cedis. So, you take the exchange rate out of the matter and deal with it.

“We are also going to make sure that our duties in ports by policy cannot be higher than in Lome, which is our competitor. And right now, there’s a lot of diversion of containers to Lome because ours are higher.”

But Sampson Asaki Awingobit in an interview on New York-based Adinkra Radio Morning Show, urged Dr. Bawumia to make clear when exactly he intends to implement the policy when he becomes President.

"Dr. Bawumia and the NPP said a lot of things before they came to power. They said they will make the Tema Port like the Lome Port but what did we see when they came to power, taxes upon taxes.

Dr. Bawumia should give us timeless for implementation of the policies he’s trumpeting. He should tell us if he will implement it in his first, second or third year budget. He should make it clear to us. This time around we will not be deceived as we were in 2016 and 2020. The taxes he claims he will abolish when he comes to power, I bet you he can never abolish them. I challenge him, he should abolish them during the mid-year budget review in July."

“Prior to coming to power in 2016, the NPP said they are business friendly people and they listen to business people and traders. They promised to take us out of taxes to production, and we were excited by that and Ghanaians went ahead to vote for them massively and Akufo-Addo won with over one million votes. Seven years down the line, all what we see is myriad of taxes introduced by this government which is killing many businesses some of which have folded up or relocated to neighboring countries,” he told Host Daakyehene Ofosu Agyemang.