<<Print>>

Hon. Kobina Tahir Hammond, Ghana’s Trade Minister has justified the need to introduce the Legislative Instrument (L.I) stating that, he had officially engaged the producers of Cement earlier to reduce their prices.

According to Mr. Hammond, the producers failed to align themselves with the directive, thus, leading to the introduction of the legislative Instrument (L.I).

In a media engagement in Parliament on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Mr. Hammond stated that, he asked the producers of cement to ensure that they do something about the prices.

According to Mr. Hammond, the producers turned a deaf ear to his submission and went ahead to do what they think well suits 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. Well, I have only one other avenue, encouraging them to do it is moral persuasion, if moral persuasion fails there is a system in the country, there is a constitution, and we all operate by the rule of law, so if the constitution mandates me to bring LI, I will bring the LI to ensure that somebody abides by some economic principle,” he told the Press.

“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."

He further added that, “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.”

Hon. K.T. Hammond’s statement is in sequel to a statement made by the Executive Secretary of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana (CMAG), Rev. Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah, where he had stated that the Trade Minister did not engage them before going ahead to introduce the Legislative Instrument.

Rev. Dawson-Ahmoah said, “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."

According to the President of CMAG, the increasing cost of cement is ascribed to the continuous depreciation of the Ghana cedi to the dollar, which is the major trading currency.

He explained, “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 asked.