The flagbearer of the All-People’s Congress (APC), Dr. Hasan Ayariga, has assured executives of the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) of duty-free operations at the port if he is elected President in the upcoming December 7, 2024, elections.

At a meeting in Accra on October 22, 2024, the founder of the APC pointed out that duties at the Ghanaian port are among the highest in the world, negatively impacting businessmen and women.

According to him, the over 25 import duties at the port have driven traders to Togo, where they benefit from a free port, resulting in significant revenue loss for the Ghanaian government.

“There are a lot of taxes that are hindering your businesses, and I aim to become president and remove all those taxes to ease the cost of import and other transactions as far as GUTA operations are concerned. I aim to introduce free port operations to aid you in your business, especially import.”

Dr. Ayariga believes that the high cost of goods and commodities in Ghana is due to the excessive fees collected at the port.

He added that under his leadership, importers would only have to pay five duties at the port, all in Ghanaian cedi: port charges, shipping charges, Ghana Revenue, income taxes, and a levy.

Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of GUTA, praised Dr. Ayariga's free port policy as a game changer for the trading community.

“This policy would be a game changer should it be implemented, and it will support the trading industry, especially regularizing the costs of import,” he said.

He noted that this policy would allow traders to better project the costs of goods they import into the country.

Dr. Obeng also highlighted that the flat rate system proposed by Dr. Ayariga would help reduce corruption at the port and could be used by the government as a catalyst to generate revenue.

He called on all flagbearers in the December 7 general election to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GUTA to commit to their promises regarding port operations.

“If all the other flagbearers can do the same by signing something like an MOU to commit to their promises regarding port operations, things will get better.”



AM/KA

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