Mrs. Salomay Naa Shasha Martei, Chairlady of the Makola Special Branch of the NDC has called on Ghanaians to vote against Dr. Bawumia and the various NPP Parliamentary Candidates across the country, come December 7th, 2024.
She made this passionate appeal in an interview she granted betterghanadigest.com on Monday the 24th of June 2024.
According to her, Ghanaians should not blame traders for the high cost of food items on the market.
She said the cost of living is rising day in and day out because of mismanagement and the wrong policies implemented by the current NPP regime under the leadership of Nana Akufo Addo and Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, head of the Economic Management Team.
In her view, the cost of transportation is one major factor that goes into determining the selling price of commodities. Anytime the cost of fuel is increased, the cost of transportation will also increase and that will definitely affect the pricing of products and services at all levels i.e. supply, production, marketing and distribution, and unfortunately, it is the consumer that will finally pay for all the increases.
Again, Mrs. Salomay Shasha Martei said another contributing factor is the number of taxes business owners are paying in addition to other costs of doing business. The duty, the rate of the dollar, pounds, CFA, etc. as well as the interest rate on business loans, not forgetting inflation.
“When the Government increases fuel prices, transport fares will go up; then suppliers will increase their price, the producers or wholesalers will increase their price, then the retailer will also increase the price.”
“Again, the final consumer also taking note of the increases in prices will have no other choice than to adjust the prices of their goods and services in order to generate the required income that will enable them to pay for the food they consume as well as other necessities of life.”
“So you see, it’s a whole chain or cycle but in the end, it is the final consumer that suffers the most because all the price increments and taxes have been added to the cost of the item and passed onto the consumer.”
“Seriously, it is important to note that traders and business owners are also consumers. Yes, take me for instance, I deal in onions and cosmetics, but I buy pepper, salt, gas, oil, clothes, you name it. Everybody is a consumer in one way or the other so we are all feeling the heat in our pockets.”
She therefore called on the general populace to rise up and speak to the issues.
“We are all in this together, if you are not feeling it that much, you may have a relative who may be dying of hunger. People are really suffering and we can’t blame anyone apart from leadership. The Government is responsible for the high cost of food and other items. It can’t be blamed on the traders because we are also suffering and that is why we want a change in Government.”
According to her, things were far cheaper and better under the John Mahama led NDC.
“In 2016 for instance, you could prepare a balanced meal for a family of 5 people with only GHC 50.OO but today, you will need more that GH C 200.00 to do so, and that is an average meal.”
She urged the voting public especially members and sympatisers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ghana Union Movement, PPP, and all the other Political Parties to put their party colours aside, vote for John Mahama and the NDC in order to bring an end to the suffering.
She said a vote for Dr. Bawumia would be a vote for Nana Akufo Addo and his team. An extension of NPP’s mandate will be a continuation of the suffering caused by high taxes, duty, and mismanagement coupled with corruption and all the negative things that have bedeviled this current Government.
