The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has wholeheartedly embraced the manifesto promises of the NPP ahead of the 2024 General Elections.
The flagbearer of the ruling party, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Sunday, August 18th, 2024 launched the NPP’s manifesto for the upcoming elections.
Among a number of lofty promises included some trade policies and initiatives aimed to benefit the trading community. Some of these policies include the introduction of a Flat Tax Rate for all importers, harmonization of port charges, and establishment of an SME Bank to address the financing needs of small and medium enterprises among others.
Following the launch of the document, GUTA has expressed its optimism in the promises indicating that they are workable solutions for the obstacles within the business environment in which they operate.
Speaking to The High Street Journal, President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng expressed his optimism that the manifesto inspires hope for the future. He added that the document captured the majority of the inputs they offered to the manifesto committee.
“These are solutions for today’s problems. The manifesto as I listened to gives hope for the future. Most of our concerns are captured here. They have listened. For us, it is in the right direction that most of our issues are being captured,” the President of GUTA remarked.
He further noted that they deem the promises in the manifesto as a social contract hence they will hold the NPP government accountable should they win the elections.
“The manifesto has a lot of good intentions for workable solutions. We deem the manifesto as a social contract. In the past, they will formulate these manifestos without the inclusion of the stakeholders, but this time around, the manifesto committee came around and we all put our inputs together. We own this product together we will make sure that they put it as a national policy for us,” Dr. Obeng indicated.
Meanwhile, an Economist at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Patrick Asuming has cast doubt over the financial feasibility of the numerous manifesto promises announced by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The Associate Professor of Economics says the numerous and ambitious promises are a clear indication that the Vice President and his party fail to acknowledge the current economic crises that have necessitated the ongoing IMF bailout.
