Former President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA), Joseph Obeng, has firmly distanced himself from the controversial Marine Cargo Act.
The former GUTA president has also clarified that he neither consented to the law during his tenure nor supports its implementation today.
In a statement copied to The High Street Journal, Joseph Obeng made it clear that the trading community cannot be compelled to choose a particular insurance service provider as stated in the act.
According to Joseph Obeng, the act requires that all goods imported into Ghana be insured locally through insurance companies licensed in the country. The purported justification, he says, is to retain insurance premiums within Ghana and strengthen the local insurance industry.
But the former President of GUTA says the business community has serious concerns over this provision, and it still remains unresolved.
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For him, he cannot fathom such a clause of compulsion in what is supposed to be a competitive business environment. He insists that you cannot force patronage in a free market.
He further argues that insurance companies must win business on merit, not through legal compulsion. Joseph Obeng believes the approach undermines fundamental business principles.
According to him, insurance services, like any other commercial service, must be driven by competitiveness, pricing, capacity, efficiency, and global credibility, not coercion.
“My attention has once again been drawn to discussions surrounding the implementation of the Marine Cargo Act. I wish to state, unequivocally, that the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA), under my leadership, never consented to this Act,” the statement noted.
He insists that the policy touches on business freedom. He further explains that in international trade, suppliers often insure goods under agreed credit arrangements and long-standing global insurance partnerships. These are standard commercial practices, he argues, and cannot simply be overridden by domestic regulation.
With this new mandate to local insurance and attaching custodial penalties for non-compliance, Joseph Obeng believes the NIC is effectively compelling businesses to choose specific service providers, which contradicts the spirit of competition.
