CUTS warns of delay in consumer and competition laws
CUTS International Accra has warned that Ghana’s prolonged failure to enact a Consumer Protection Bill and a Competition Law is jeopardising consumers, businesses and investors, the director said on the eve of World Competition Day at the launch of “Consumer Rights and Justice in Ghana: A Legal Compass”.
The event, chaired by Professor Justice Samuel Kofi Date‑Bah, took place on 5 December in Accra as the book by Francisca Kusi Appiah, Vice Dean of the UPSA Law Faculty, was unveiled.
Appiah Kusi Adomako, director of the West Africa Regional Centre for CUTS International, told reporters that the legal vacuum leaves citizens exposed in daily transactions and erodes public trust.
“The country has waited long enough. The prolonged delay no longer serves the public interest. Consumers are unprotected. Markets operate without discipline,” he said.
He highlighted that essential consumer rights—safety, information, choice, being heard, redress, education and fair value—are routinely breached across sectors.
Referring to a recent CUTS study, he noted widespread price exploitation, misleading labelling and sub‑standard goods, adding, “A mother buying food products should trust labels. A patient visiting a clinic should feel safe. A mobile‑money user should not beg for a reversal when systems fail.”
On competition, Adomako warned that Ghana’s market is vulnerable to price‑fixing, output control, collusive arrangements and abuse of dominance, with some trade associations moving beyond advocacy into price coordination.
“When associations set prices, competition dies. When dominant firms dictate terms, small businesses shrink. When competitors fix quantities, the market suffers,” he explained.
He pointed out that, apart from Section 44 (3) of the National Petroleum Authority Act 2005, Ghana has no general law criminalising cartels, leaving anti‑competitive conduct unchecked.
The director argued that a robust competition framework would safeguard innovation, entry, fair pricing and equal opportunity, and that merger‑control mechanisms are needed to prevent excessive market power in retail and pay‑TV sectors.
He reminded that Article 12 (3) of the AfCFTA Protocol on Competition obliges states without competition law to enact such legislation, noting Ghana cannot fully participate in the single African market without compliance.
The book review also exposed the fragmented nature of existing consumer protection statutes, with agencies such as the GSA, FDA, NPA, BOG, PURC and NCA each acting within narrow mandates, undermining enforcement.
By tracing fifty years of legal development and citing cases like Donoghue v Stevenson and Morkor v Kuma, the text maps the evolution of consumer duties and delineates rights that remain unfulfilled.
Covering goods, food, pharmaceuticals, utilities, waste, housing, telecom, finance, insurance, health, transport, tourism and e‑commerce, the study details everyday grievances—from defective products and false labels to power billing disputes and ATM reversal failures.
Concluding, Adomako called on policymakers, business leaders, regulators, civil society and academia to read the book and accelerate the passage of the Consumer Protection Bill and a Competition Law.
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