Dr Tony Oteng-Gyasi
Economist-cum-industrialist, Dr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, says although there is nothing wrong for business owners to have political opinion, he has advised them against mixing their businesses with politics.
He argued mixing business with politics can be “a heady and risky mix” hence “for anybody who aspires to be a business person, it is advisable that you don’t mix the two”.
Appearing on ‘Time With The Captains’ on TV3 Monday, the businessman who owns a thriving local cable manufacturing company said its unnecessary to belong to a political party as a businessman.
“There is nothing wrong with being politically aligned, there is nothing wrong with having your political opinions,” Dr Oteng-Gyasi, but added “your political opinions must not interfere with the businesses you’re running”.
For him, the person running the politics of the nation is not something a businessman should worry about.
As a business person, he said “you should be able to walk to any government official” to discuss whatever issues they’ refacing with, stating because “it is your entitlement, it is your due as a citizen”.
The businessman who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Tropical Cable & Conductor Ltd (TCCL). The company, which was started in 1996, has gone through successive governments and thrived over the period.
But when asked whether he is a member or aligned to the New Patriotic Party, Dr Oteng-Gyasi declined to accept or deny that.
“To the extent that any particular government promotes industry and sees industry for what it is worth and give the right environment for industry to do well, I will be for that government,” he told host of the show, Paa Kwesi Asare.
He observed aligning business persons to particular political parties was becoming a problem in Ghana, indicating “anybody who sees you think your whole being must be political”
For him, the country “needs citizens who are more than politics” contending that the country “is more than politics” which appears to have bewitched the people.
