By Hassan I. Conteh

Traders Council- Sierra Leone (TC SL) has called on government to repeal what a senior Council official refers to as an ancient law on trading called, Wholesale and Retail Act.

”This law is a bottleneck on our petty traders and the Council in general ever since. We want His Excellency, Dr. Julius Maada Bio and his current Minister of Trade and Industry to strengthen talks that will see a repeal of this old law under this current parliamentary sitting, ” Traders Council’s Secretary General, Foday D. Mansaray, said in an exclusive interview with Africa 24.

Traders Council  Sierra Leone seeks to protect and promote the welfare of petty traders in Sierra Leone.

Speaking at Traders Council’s headquarters’ office on ECOWAS street in Freetown, Central Business District, on Tuesday October 31, 2023, Mr. Mansaray explained how the old law, on regulating wholesale business people and retail petty  traders in the country,  is affecting mostly the latter group.

”Most shops are still selling goods in wholesales and in retail sales at the same time thereby depriving others. What we need now and have been campaigning for to stop is for shops not to be selling retail sales again, ”

”We would like President Maada  Bio and his minister of trade to put words now into action by getting away this  law, Wholesale and Retail Act. And, we want a new law to be enforced that will disallow wholesale shop owners from doing retail sales but rather they should stick only to wholesaling. We believe that that will encourage young sellers or low capital business people, the petty traders, to flourish as retail goods sellers”

Mr. Mansaray maintained that they would be engaging respective sectors in the government and stakeholders on seeing that the ” not-too encouraging situation” between wholesale shop owners and retail petty traders is permanently settled down this time.