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Claim: Malik Basintale, CEO of the Youth Employment Agency, and Franklin Cudjoe, President of IMANI Ghana, claim that this is the first time the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is asking its members to reduce prices due to the appreciation of the cedi.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s checks show that GUTA has made such calls in the past, including recent ones in 2022 and 2023.
Full Text
The Ghanaian Cedi has recently recorded significant gains against the United States Dollar and other major trading currencies. According to Bank of Ghana data, as of Tuesday, May 13, 2023, the Cedi was trading at ₵12.88 to a dollar.
Last week, Bloomberg named the cedi the world’s best-performing currency after it appreciated almost 16 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of April 2025.
According to Bloomberg, the cedi’s gain has eased inflationary pressures, leading to Ghana’s lowest inflation rate in eight months.
Following the recent appreciation of the cedi against the dollar and other major trading currencies, the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has asked its members to reduce prices of goods and services to relieve the consuming public.
Contributing to a discussion on TV3 NewDay on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, stated that this is the first time GUTA is asking traders to reduce prices.
His comment emphasised that the incumbent NDC government was bringing economic relief to Ghanaians.
“Today, our economy is stabilised to the extent that inflation is dropping. GUTA is appealing to their members to reduce the prices of commodities. For a very long time, anytime you hear GUTA speak, they are pleading with the government to stabilise the economy. For the first time, GUTA is pleading with members to reduce prices because of economic stability,” he stated at 2:20:48 minutes of the video.
Also, the President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, in a comment on Social Media, suggested that the call by GUTA was the first time.
In a post on Facebook, he stated:
“For the first time in Ghana’s recent economic history, the fiercest trade association, GUTA, called on traders to reduce prices in response to a relatively better currency management and overall economic discipline. One hundred and twenty-five days of peaceful reset. Imagine we were still under the yoke of an unserious bunch of plunderers and economic vampires!”
Verification
Extensive internet searches reveal several instances of GUTA calling its members to reduce prices.
There is evidence that GUTA made such calls as recently as 2022 and 2023.
These calls were reported in news articles such as here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On December 16, 2022, GUTA announced it had started reducing its prices. See screenshot below.
GUTA’s past calls for price adjustments were also due to the appreciation of the cedi against major trading currencies.
In an interview on JoyNews in April 2023, GUTA president Dr Joseph Obeng reiterated the organisation’s call, citing a drop in inflation and the exchange rate as reasons for the call.
“I called on the trading community itself, because the inflation fight is a collective one. Once the exchange rate has gone down [and] the cedi is gaining some strength, we should be able to adjust our prices to reflect the current trend of the exchange rate so that we can compensate the consuming public,” Dr Obeng intimated.
Conclusion
Ample evidence found online shows that this is not the first time GUTA has called on its members to reduce prices. Therefore, the claim is false.
