Petitioners of an online campaign against Marwako Fast Foods have pointed at the failure of state institutions to deal with labour issues as the cause of foreign nationals maltreating Ghanaians in employment.
They noted that the foreigners’ ability to compromise these institutions have created room for some of them to flout laws, knowing very well that they will be able to circumvent not only the laws but the justice system and harrowing situations that they put some of their staff through.
Speaking exclusively in an interview with ‘Late Edition’ on 3FM 92.7MHz on Tuesday, Courage Kwesi Nobi, the Lead Petitioner of the online campaign to boycott the services of Marwako Fast Food, said, “in several instances it has emerged that the police and other institutions have been compromised way before these acts are committed and thus are unable to take action when they are most needed.”
A Lebanese national is reported to have dipped a staff’s face in freshly grounded pepper at Marwako Fast Food, an incident that has provoked public anger.
The campaigners bemoaned the situation and called for a complete boycott of all the branches of the facility.
With the hashtags, #BoycottMarwako and #NoMarwako, Ghanaians on social media have been expressing outrage about the latest incident of employee abuse.
They called on Ghanaians not to let such atrocities lie low and pleaded for another look at the labour laws to ensure that no one is able to trample on the rights of staff working for them.
Mr Nobi said their petition is aimed at bringing into focus the need for action by the ministries for Employment and Labour Relations, Gender, Children and Social Protection and Justice, or the Attorney General, to ensure that such situations are reduced to the barest minimum.
He explained that since they put out the petition, they have had several calls from all over the country of similar cases, stressing that, “if we do not take action now, we could in no time have a xenophobic situation on our hands.
“It is important that after we open our doors, our guests and business partners treat us with mutual respect,” he added.
Mr Nobi welcomed the condemnation of the case by some Members of Parliament and the involvement of the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, in the case.
By Gideon Sackitey|3FM|3news.com|Ghana