The Minority in Parliament has welcomed the Legislative Instrument (L.I) that is seeking to address issues of high prices of cement in Ghana.
Minority Chief Whip, Kwame Agbodza said that they support the LI since it will focus on price reporting to the committee, rather than price control, making it a non-controversial issue.
“The last time the minister was here, colleagues from both sides had very serious concerns that those concerns have been sent back to the committee and have been addressed. I am informed that they have dealt with those issues and based on that we advise that it is no longer harmless.
“So we are OK to support it at least what I’ve been told, that it is not about price control, it’s the price control element that has been taken out. It is about reporting the price reporting to the committee. And if that is the case, Mr Speaker, the advice is that it’s no longer a controversial issue. So it can go.”
The LI was laid on Tuesday, July 2, and referred to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament.
The cement producers had been resisting this L.I from being considered by Parliament.
The Executive Secretary of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana (CMAG) Rev. Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah said that unfavorable economic conditions in Ghana are causing them to increase prices of cement. He stated that no cement producer is happy with increasing prices.
“No cement manufacturer is happy with increasing prices. we do that because of an unfavorable economic situation,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, June 29.
Rev. Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, June 29 that the rapid depreciation of the local currency has been impacting their operations, forcing them to raise the prices of cement.
Clinker which is a major component of cement production, is imported hence the depreciation of the Cedi’s impact on their business, he said.
“It has a huge impact on the pricing of cement. There are other factors but currently this is a major concern now and that is what has motivated the Minister to rush to parliament to regulate prices. Why didn’t he do it last year?” He said.
Rev. Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah had told Trade Minister K T Hammond that the increasing prices of cement can be attributed to the fall of the Cedi against the Dollar.
Rev Dawson-Ahmoah said they do not need a Legislative Instrument to regulate cement prices.
Rev. Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah further stated that they have not been consulted on the L.I. He asked the Minister to seek their views on it.
“Why is the Minister avoiding or just running away from this discussion? Previously, our position has been that these prices of cement, the increase of prices of cement, it is not done in a vacuum. It is not done just because we wake up in the morning and do it,” he said.
“It is as a result of a negative trend in the economy, which is warranting such increases, and that is the issue. And like I said, what is happening now with cement prices is just because of the rapid and consistent depreciation of the cedi against the foreign currencies.
“We don’t know anything about it. And with my common knowledge in legislative instruments, don’t you involve stakeholders before it gets to Parliament? Don’t you involve stakeholders in the process?” he quizzed on Tuesday.
But KT Hammond told journalists in Parliament on Wednesday, June 26 that he had engaged them.
“I asked them to ensure that something was done about it. In my absence, I was told that the minister wasn’t going to be able to do anything.
“They would not listen, they wouldn’t do it, and they would go the way they want. “Encouraging them to do it is a moral persuasion. If moral persuasion fails, there is a system in the country, there’s a constitution, and we are preyed by a rule of law. If we don’t accept the moral principle, at least some sort of economic principle, the good people of Ghana must benefit. I don’t think it is fair for the way they are pricing and the way, haphazardly each one of them decides and dictates how much a bag of cement should be sold for.
“This is quite apart from the quality that they are producing. Some of the companies are producing substandard products. We have had to deal with this matter,” he said.
