Abossey Okai spare parts dealers call off planned strike after talks with GRA

The Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association has aborted its plans to embark on a sit-down strike against the Ghana Revenue Authority over the ongoing compliance and monitoring exercise.

“We are pleased to announce that the closure of our shops, which was intended to send a signal to the government and GRA, has been suspended with immediate effect,” said Takyi Addo, the Head of Communications of the association, during a press conference.

The association says it decided to call off the industrial action after engaging the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Customs Division.

The group added that, the Customs Division also addressed the sentiments raised by the dealers by progressively recalling its officers who were earlier deployed to various shops in Accra to police the dealers.

Takyi Addo, however, put on record that the association was not opposing the electronic value-added tax policy, but rather how the decision was taken and enforced.

Takyi Addo, the Head of Communications for the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association, addressed the dealers in Accra at a press conference.

Background

The Ghana Revenue Authority designed and implemented a value-added tax policy as part of its innovative way of generating revenue for the state.

In implementing the policy, GRA employed the use of deploying staff and customs officers to police, monitor and collect revenue from the shops of the dealers.

According to the Abossey Okai dealers, the decision was taken on the blind side of their leadership.

The Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association out of displeasure planned a sit-down strike against the Ghana Revenue Authority to oppose the decision solely taken by the GRA.