President of the Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAGG), David Amoateng, has criticised the growing public attacks against traders, saying their concerns about the economy and transport system should not be dismissed.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, Amoateng said traders support successive governments and are only raising concerns about issues affecting businesses and ordinary Ghanaians.

“We shouldn't be tagging traders as thieves, robbers, you know, that kind of stuff. It's not good. All we know is we are doing our bit to make the country governable,” he said.

Amoateng said traders would continue to engage the government in power because it is the current administration that has the responsibility to address their concerns.

“We support every government that comes. That is our hope. At the end of the day, I don't have business with whoever is outside. I have business with the current administrator,” he stated.

He also called on the government to address the shortage of commercial vehicles, particularly during peak hours, arguing that the situation gives some transport operators room to charge higher fares.

“When it is 4:00pm to 8:00pm, please kindly come to Tema Station. Come here and witness it yourself. It's bizarre,” Amoateng said.

He proposed a reduction in import duties on vehicles to encourage more businesses to bring commercial vehicles into the country and increase competition in the transport sector.

“How about you opening a window of a 50% import duty to business people like you? Maybe some of you might have the strength to import vehicles. When you have more vehicles in the system, that is when a trotro driver cannot charge exorbitant [fares],” he explained.

Amoateng said TAGG had previously petitioned the government over the issue but claimed that, despite the Presidency forwarding the petition to the Transport Ministry, the concern had not been addressed in successive budgets.

He also urged Ghanaians to focus on issues affecting their livelihoods rather than social media insults.

“We should talk about bread and butter issues in the country, not social media insults that are of useless concern to anybody. Think about Ghanaians,” he added.



ANAS/MA