The Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAGG) has told all shop owners who have closed their work places that although their actions may seem to be the right way to protest the unbearable economic crisis it will only worsen their problems as traders in the long term.
The group said traders still have to feed their children and bear all the responsibilities in spite of the hardship.
Some traders locked up their shops to pretest high taxes that they are paying and also the woes of the Cedi against the Dollar.
But the group said in a statement issued on Monday October 17 currently, “even with our shops open, we are unable to do so effectively, so what then happens when we close our shops?
“The interests on our loans will keep piling up, our children’s fees will remain unpaid and we shall lose the very few customers we have been trying to maintain.
“Fellow traders, we are by this press conference strongly urging you to keep your shops open to keep body and soul together for the meantime while we fight for your welfare. Let us salvage what we can to save the dying embers of our businesses, so that the flames our enterprises shall once again burn bright.
“However, we also believe the protest must continue so we are urging our members to sustain the protests by wearing Red Arm Bands, Black or Red Attires and by putting Red Banners, in front of their shops starting from Tuesday, 18th October 2022 rather than closing our shops and hit on the street.”
The statement added “TAGG believes that closing our shops will not affect the exchange rate but will rather spell doom of our already struggling businesses as our foreign competitors are already stifling the local industry.
“We would like to stress again that members of TAGG and the general trading public of Ghana should not close their shops but should carry on with their daily business activities so as not to give an undue advantage to the multinational malls in Ghana because of our protest.
“Finally, in the face of growing agitation we, the leadership of TAGG call on the IGP and the Ghana Police Service to protect traders who want to open their shops from unruly group who may want to use force to prevent them from doing so
“Fellow Ghanaians, in these challenging times, let us come together to mount pressure on the government to heed to our cries in a reasonable and sustainable manner so that our businesses and sources of income are not lost in the process.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana