Kofi Kapito Wants Tariffs Further Reduced

Kofi Kapito, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Consumer Protection Agency Ghana, has called for further reduction in utility tariffs. Kapito, who addressed the media at a press conference in Accra, said, �PURC should not just sit down and slam us with 78.9 percent increase just because it claims it has not made any increment for two years. Even the 25 percent reduction by the government is seriously inadequate. It is outrageous to increase tariffs by two digits, the norm is single digit,� he stated. He therefore called on government to ask all state agencies and officials to pay their outstanding utility bills. �Even before government�s intervention, there were lots of confusion and anxiety among electricity users as to the high cost of electricity. A consumer who was spending GH�100 a month should be told what the 25 percent reduction entails and how much units the GH�100 will give him after the reduction,� he said. �When are Ghanaians going to start enjoying the 25 percent absorption?� he quizzed. He noted that he would not hesitate to call on all Ghanaians to protest if the changes are not made. �It is past five days since the government made the announcement while the initially implementation of the 78.9 percent utility tariffs was within five days of its pronouncement. Responding to questions from journalists, he stressed that �the current state where inflation stands at 13.1 percent while the Cedi�s devaluation stands at 17 percent show that the economy is in deep mess and our government and economic planners should be held accountable.� However, he urged government to direct subsidies towards needy areas. �PURC did not factor in the ability of ordinary Ghanaians to pay before taking the decision to increase tariffs. He lauded the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) for promoting the interest of the country�s labour force.