PASS CO-OPERATIVE DRAFT BILL INTO LAW (PAGE 56)

PARTICIPANTS at a workshop on the Co-operative Draft Bill have entreated Parliament and other partners to facilitate the early passage of the bill into law.
They noted that, when passed into law, it would regulate and sanitise activities of co-operatives in the country and ultimately help address the numerous socio-economic and poverty problems facing people in the rural communities.
The participants further maintained that the inability of Parliament to pass the bill into law since the process was initiated in 2001 was a major source of worry to co-operative societies in Ghana.
The participants, who were mainly members of the Ghana Co-operative Council (GCC) from the three northern regions, expressed their determination to evolve strategies such as lobbying, media encounters, peaceful demonstrations and community sensitisation programmes to facilitate the process.
The workshop was organised by the GCC in Tamale, to collate views from the participants and formulate effective strategies that would ensure the early passage of the bill.
The bill re-enacts the Co-operative Societies’ Decree, 1968 (NLCD 252) and modernises it in line with the current liberalised economy.
Co-operative societies were formally introduced in Ghana in 1928 in an attempt to improve the quality of cocoa for export. They were so successful that in 1960, the co-operatives were marketing about 40 per cent of the entire crop.
According to the participants, they would lobby with support from parliamentarians, assembly members, chiefs, religious and opinion leaders, to ensure the early passage of the bill.
They urged the leadership of the GCC to do follow-up visits to trace wherever the bill was sent and facilitate its passage.
The participants noted that all annual general meetings of co-operative societies should discuss the process as a way of promoting advocacy on the passage of the Bill.
The Project Manager of the GCC, Mr Samuel Addo-Newton, expressed regret that members of co-operative societies were not committed enough to the process, hence the delay in the passage of the bill into law.
The Administrative Manager of the GCC, Mr George Gyimah, observed that lack of funds had been hampering the smooth operation of his outfit.
He, therefore, appealed to the participants to “sacrifice a little” to enhance the fortunes of the GCC.