Traders driving up cost of living through excessive profits — Martin Kpebu

The never-ending rise in the cost of living in Ghana can be partly attributed to some traders seeking to make huge profits rather than reasonable markups, argued private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s KeyPoint show on Saturday, July 20, Mr Kpebu explained that a major factor contributing to inflation is traders buying goods at low wholesale prices but inflating retail prices disproportionately through large markups.

"The plain truth is that a lot of this cost of living crisis can also be attributed to the sellers or the traders. With tomatoes, today when I bought the full box for 1000 Cedis and divided I got one for GHS1.80 pesewas. We are overstretching it, that is where the problem is, that is why I said let us go through gradually and see the price build-up," he stated.

To illustrate his point about unreasonable price hikes, the lawyer cited the example of tomatoes being sold at nearly double the price of others that are few kilometres away in the same area.

"How can one tomato fruit at Railways near CMB cost GHS1.80 pesewas then when I come to Tema Station, less than three Kilometers, and the same fruit is costing 4 Cedis? How? What kind of transport is that?" questioned Mr Kpebu.

He proposed introducing laws by the Ghana Standards Authority to educate traders and regulate pricing of basic food items.

Martin Kpebu warns that if exorbitant markups persist unchecked, it could worsen the already high cost of living that is making life difficult to live.