Akufo-Addo did not address plights of businesses in SONA – Organized Labour

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Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL)

Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has expressed worry that the 2023 State of the Nation Address (SONA) did not address the plights of privately operated businesses in Ghana.

Mr. Koomson noted that the expectations of the business community were not met nor reflected in the SONA presented to Parliament by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on March 8, 2023.

He said this when reacting to the SONA during an engagement with newsmen in Tema.

The GFL Secretary-General said it was unfortunate that President Akufo-Addo failed to offer any hope through the address to the business community, “the President adopted self-praise of his administration’s self-claimed achievements, we need the President to offer hope in these difficult times.

“The best delivery could have been to assure investors and the business community that the government will deal with the many issues confronting them to enable them to maintain their operations, what the government has done we all know it but what we don’t know is how they are going to turn the economy around and that is what Ghanaians want to know”.

Mr. Koomson urged the government to create a congenial environment to promote businesses as the private sector was the engine of growth for the economy, adding that compiling numerous taxes on businesses without any incentives would end up leading to their collapse.

The GFL Secretary-General said it was unfortunate that even though the government promised to move from over-taxation to the expansion of the manufacturing industry, it has ended up imposing more taxes on businesses with some still in Parliament awaiting approval.

According to him, coupled with over-taxations, companies operating in Ghana were not competitive as the goods of their competitors which were being imported into the country were cheaper due to the business policies they have in their country which facilitate cheaper production compared to Ghana’s.

Mr. Koomson lamented that “the environment here for business operations is not good, leading to businesses folding up and some employees losing their jobs”.

The GFL Secretary-General indicated that all these would lead to an increase in unemployment and its resultant high crime rates as the younger generations look for means to survive be it legally or illegally.

-CDA Consult || Contributor