The Legislative Instrument (L.I.) seeking to give the government the mandate to regulate cement prices in the country has been passed into law.
The L.I., proposed by the Minister for Trade and Industry, K.T. Hammond, allows the government to introduce a price stabilization fund to regulate cement prices nationwide.
The Minority Spokesperson on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Bernard Ahiafor, argued that “The parent act by its object deals with all goods and services, that is setting the standard for all goods and services including the cement, and the understanding of the standard is controlling the quality of all goods and services produced and imported in the country.”
Despite these objections, the L.I. has been enacted after 21 parliamentary sittings.
The minister, in his remarks said “I have consistently been arguing that we are not being treated fairly by the cement producing companies. I have gone through a lot of literature, I am beyond argument. There is a certain amount of unfairness in the pricing of cement across the country and I am prepared to make sure that there is some sanity.”
