The Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament has summoned the Energy Commission over the ban of the importation of used electrical appliances into the country.
The committee bemoans that it was not consulted on the move during the presentation of a petition to the committee.
According to John Jinapor, Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee, there should have been extensive stakeholder engagement by the Energy Commission before the LI (Legislative Instrument) was passed, particularly, the Committee of Mines and Energy.
“We [the Mines and Energy Committee] are a major stakeholder. As good as the intention might be, knowledge does not only reside in one person and when you engage broadly and extensively, it brings about acceptability. So one issue has to do with extensive consultation. And I brought to [the Committee Chairman’s] attention that I thought that this committee in particular, should have been consulted.
“The second one has to do with the time period. Normally, when you are implementing policy, you would allow a grace period. You don’t apply policy when it comes to a plan abruptly. You would want to say that we will implement this policy in say, 1 year, in 2 years, so that it doesn’t disrupt people’s economic activities. It allows people the opportunity to transition. Everybody will want to have a brand new item, I mean, if all of us had the opportunity…”
John Jinapor
Meanwhile, by the concern of the Dealers Association of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), the committee announced the need for a stakeholder engagement to deal with concerns emanating from the ban.
The Energy Commission announced a ban on some sub-standard electrical appliances and renewable energy products, effective November 2022.
The products banned by the Energy Commission include air conditioners, rice cookers, television sets, comfort fans and cloth washing machines, amongst other products.
The Commission explained that the ban is to prevent Ghana from becoming a desirable destination for sub-standard and used appliances and also to save the economy by reducing electricity demand, which necessitates additional generation capacity with its associated fuel costs.
The ban is also to protect the environment and safeguard the health of citizens from air pollution caused by increased power generation and to protect the consumer from purchasing unsuitable appliances and the payment of unnecessary electricity bills, the Commission further explained.
The Commission therefore, urged the general public, particularly, importers of electrical appliances as well as prospective manufacturers to take note and not import such products.
The Second-Hand Dealers Association bemoans the adverse impact of the new proposition on their livelihood
This move however does not go down well with a group by name the Second-hand Dealers Association under GUTA, who bemoan that this move will affect the livelihood of over 100,000 traders of such appliances. The Association, to address this concern, petitioned the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament on the matter.
President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, Joseph Obeng, on behalf of the Second-hand Dealers Association in response to the direction given by the Energy Commission asked that: “if you even say used item, is it something that has been used for 6 months that is being sold to another person? Or is it the efficacy of the product itself?”
“But from what they [the Energy Commission] were talking about, they meant the efficacy of the thing and product that ensures the efficiency of the electrical energy consumption in this country and that, they also admit that new products, also, some of them do not have the required components that ensure energy efficiencies.
“So, we did not agree at any point that we are going to ban the so-called ‘used products’. What we have established was that, we have to use every means to disallow unwholesome products; goods that have hazardous effects on the environment and all that from coming in, whether new or old. This is what has been established and we said that, then, you can use science to decipher what is good to come in and what is not good to come in, regardless of the age.”
Joseph Obeng
Mr. Obeng added that it is improper and unfair to as the industry, which employs directly about 100,000 and indirectly about 200,000 people, as well as those who depend on them for survival to go hungry just because they deal in second-hand goods.
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