PROTECTING CONSUMERS’ RIGHTS

WITH the advent of globalisation and its concomitant implication for free trade across national borders, no one country can claim immunity from the dysfunctional effects that shoddy, fake and inferior quality goods can have on its economy and people.
However, those countries which have the interest of their citizens at heart and which are aware of the ramifications of shoddy goods and unsatisfactory services on consumers have put in place policies to protect consumers.
The institution of policies to protect consumers serves as a bulwark against their exploitation by producers of goods and providers of services. Indeed, so well established are the institutions which deal with consumer matters in those countries that absolutely no institution, whether it is a service provider or a multi-national company, can take consumers for a ride.
But what do we see here in Ghana? The absence of clear-cut guidelines and policies to protect consumers has made producers of goods and providers of services have a field day to do whatever they want and still go scot-free.
That situation, the DAILY GRAPHIC says, is unacceptable and the earlier something is done to rectify that anomaly, the better.
In our peculiar situation, the lack of consumer protection policies has opened the floodgates for all manner of goods to flood our markets and shops. In some cases there are no instructions on some of these goods, while some of the goods which have the instructions have them in indecipherable languages.
Some of these goods do not display any expiry dates, while others, especially the consumables, do not indicate the constituent ingredients, thereby posing a danger to consumers who may be allergic to certain ingredients.
Even more risky are electrical gadgets which are of inferior quality and made with inferior materials. The danger they pose is not only to health but life and other property, since they could easily catch fire.
As for our service providers, especially telecom services and the utilities such as water and electricity, the least said about them, the better. It is as if, having determined that consumers do not have any guidelines to follow to exact excellent services from service providers, they (the service providers) can short-change them.
Now the norm, as the DAILY GRAPHIC has found, is for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), for instance, to cut power supply to a place without having the decency to inform residents about it beforehand, so that they could at least protect their appliances. That practice, surely, smacks of arrogance and callousness. As for the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the people are used to the taps running dry for weeks and months without the authorities explaining the challenges to the consumers.
In our hospitality institutions and facilities, the story is the same, with front desk staff creating the impression that the customer is being done a favour for patronising that facility.
In the light of the foregoing, it has become obvious that the need for a comprehensive policy to protect the welfare of consumers in the country is long overdue.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, welcomes the formulation of such a policy by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President’s Special Initiatives, as announced by the Deputy Minister, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
We are equally glad that in the formulation of the policy, all stakeholders in the sector are being involved, so that, in the final analysis, the policy would pave the way for the enactment of a framework leading to the establishment of a Consumer Protection Authority and a Small Claims Court to facilitate consumer redress.
We are already behind time so we must work at this in such a manner as will hasten matters to bring relief to consumers, for they have been taken for granted for far too long!