The Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Hon Haruna Iddrisu, has challenged the legality of the proposed legislation to regulate the pricing of cement in Ghana.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, the former Minority leader opined that the legislation proposed by the Minister for Trade, Hon. Kobina Tahir Hammond, is illegal, adding that, it is in contrast to what the constitution states, according to the Ghana Standard Authority Act 2022.
It is recalled that, the Minister for Trade, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa in the Ashanti region, mentioned that, he will lay legislation before parliament to control the prices of cement. The proposal from the sector minister has generated conversations in the public space with some supporting the idea while others oppose the proposal vehemently.
On July 1, 2024, there was a proposed meeting with the manufacturers of cement in Ghana at the premises of Ministry of Trade.
However, the manufacturers boycotted the said meeting when they noticed the presence of journalists at the meeting. According to the manufacturers, they were informed by the officials from the ministry that the meeting was going to be held behind closed doors only to be ambushed by journalists.
However, the sector minister added that, despite the boycott, he was going to push for the legislation to regulate the prices of cement on the Ghanaian market.
KT Hammond argued that, the incessant rise in the prices of cement is quite alarming, thus, proposing that the legislation be made. On the side of the manufacturers, the prices of the raw materials keep changing due to the unstable nature of the dollar rate, hence, the unstable price of the cement.
In sequel to the above, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, a former Trades Minister argued that, the constitution does not allow the prices of commodities to be controlled as the sector minister seeks to do.
“I will test this matter in the Supreme Court. The constitution in Article 11, provides that before a regulation, there must be a dependence on a parent Act.”
He added, “Mr. Speaker, Ghana cannot go this low that in a democratic country, liberal, where market forces must determine prices, we have a minister acting to regulate pricing in the name of the republic.
“This is not to be contemplated by a government that believes in a property owning democracy. You want to regulate pricing because you cannot control the exchange regime and control the stability and the strength of your cedi because of it, you want to regulate and dictate that this must be the selling g rate of cement.”
Source: peacefmonline.com
