Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), has said John Mahama’s 24-hour economy will avert a lot of nuisance in town considering how Ghanaian markets are congested during the day.
Dr. Obeng, who discounted the idea that the 24-hour economy is already an existing policy, has noted that, there is much that can be done to improve it, even if that was the case.
During an NDC and John Mahama’s encounter with GUTA Monday, April 08, 2024, Dr. Obeng said there can be deliberate arrangements to reduce the congestion in town during the day time, in order to create space for smoother commuting of people to increase productivity.
“If even you say that the thing is already there, there is nothing wrong for us to enhance it and there is more that we can do in the night. There are so many things that are creating nuisance in the afternoon. When you go to Opera Square, Kantamanto, Okaishie, in the afternoon when people are shuttling around, that’s when we are offloading our goods. So it makes the place very congested. So, your Excellency, let’s think about the things that create nuisance in the day and put them in the night. It shouldn’t be very difficult to say that when you are carrying your goods within the week days, it has to come after six [6pm],” he indicated.
He also described the NDC’s flag bearer as a listening President, following his comments that the advice of the traders was worth implementing at the time they were thinking of how to fund the Savanna project.
“We were among the first group of people who came to visit you at the castle when you became the Vice President and we talked in detail. One thing I remember from that meeting is that you took your time and listened. Your Excellency, you remember that when we were talking about how we were going to finance your Savannah project and then we had suggested that you have to go to the EDIF fund which was then misused and that you listened to us.
“You remember what you said, that “wisdom is not in the head of a single person”. It means someone takes an advice from people like us who are usually referred to as “ordinary traders” and accord us in that regard suggests he is listening President,” Dr. Obeng recounted.
John Dramani Mahama, on his part, promised to “create a stable macro economic environment to ensure predictability and growth for businesses” should he regain the seat of government, adding that he will “expand the tax net to reduce the tax burden on the formal sector and traders.”
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