The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, Dr Joseph Obeng, has slammed the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, for his criticism of traders in Ghana.

Joseph Osei-Owusu, who is affectionately called Joe Wise, in an interview with Oyerepa TV, aired on Monday, April 17, 2023, called members of the GUTA immoral and accused them of exploiting Ghanaians.

But reacting to this in another interview with Oyerepa TV, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, Dr Joseph Obeng said that the comment of the 1st deputy speaker is an insult to all traders in Ghana.

He said that it is Joe Wise who has no morals because he imported tiles from China, when some are being produced in Ghana, at a time his government is seeking to encourage local production of goods.

“On what grounds is he saying that we, the citizenry, have no moral rights? He is the deputy speaker so he has the moral right to talk. You are introducing taxes and we are saying they are killing us and you sit there and say we have no moral right.

“Contrary to him saying we avoid taxes; we always pay our taxes and that is why the government always meets its domestic revenue targets. But the reason the revenue is not enough for the government is that people like Osei Owusu are paid ex-gratia. The taxes are also used to pay for his petrol, his security guards and his allowances.

“He says we have no moral rights, what moral rights does he have? He went to China to buy tiles while we have two big factories in Ghana producing tiles and his government is saying we should patronize made-in-Ghana goods… He is not shamed of this,” he said in Twi.

Dr Obeng added that the statement made by Joe Wise is similar to comments which led to traders being attacked during the days of the revolutions because traders were allegedly charging unfair prices and holding their products.

Background

Joe Wise, who is also the Bekwai MP, said that the GUTA does not have the moral right to complain about tax hikes, alleging that members of the association under-declare their products and also over-price their goods to gain huge profit margins.

He made these remarks while reacting to concerns raised by GUTA over the introduction of the 3 revenue bills approved by parliament.

According to the association, their members are already struggling with their businesses insisting, the 3 revenue measures will impose additional hardship on them.

But in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Joe Wise accused members of the association of dishonesty, insisting they (members of the GUTA) have been ripping off the Ghanaians.

“GUTA should be fair to this country. They are always talking about taxes and yet they are over-exploiting Ghanaians and I am saying this without fear. I bought these tiles you see in China, some of the highest grades, you can get.

“But I bought them at less than a fraction of what they (GUTA) sell on the market which is even the weakest in China. I also paid import duties. They are dishonest, they are under-declaring and inflating the prices to make huge profits on any product,” he said in Twi.

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