Ignatius Baffour Awuah (2nd L) with other dignitaries at the event
Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has declared that if there is one state entity that has given the country so much strength in the past but today lives below its intended level, it is the cooperative outfit.
According to him, the cooperative module is the way for development for Ghana, asserting, “If there is one development method that Ghana has lost as a country and should return to, it is cooperative.”
Speaking at this year’s international cooperative day in Accra, Mr. Baffour Awuah said what is called shareholders in business is a concept of cooperative.
He asserted, “If we really want to speed up the rate of developments among ourselves; we want to build up the skyscrapers that we see in other countries, then we need to pool our resources together and do what we call crowd funding.”
National Board Chairman of the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA), Dr. Bernard B. B. Bingab, said the cooperative was behind most of the buildings around Adabraka in Accra and many other cities and villages across the country.
According to him, the cooperative module is the only way for Ghana to achieve food sustainability and alleviate poverty.
“We say we are interested in the deprived, yet the cooperative which is a module tackling poverty is not included [in our plans as a nation],” he lamented.
He wondered why cooperation was not made part of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, pointing out, “During the operation feed yourself, cooperatives played a key role. So, what is happening today?”
He urged the government to exempt cooperatives from the payment of taxes, while lamenting on the impact of taxes on cooperative institutions.
“Until the 2015 Income Tax law, cooperatives were exempted from paying corporate tax,” he said.
Acting Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Kwabena Apraku Yeboah, said the housing deficit in the country has been scaled down with the introduction of the cooperative housing scheme as pertained in Egypt.
“In this direction, may I announce that a policy document with implementation direction is being prepared by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations,” he submitted.
By Ernest Kofi Adu