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AFTER nine months in office, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has no excuse but to make fuel products reasonably affordable for Ghanaian workers, the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has said.

General Secretary of the Union, Mr Solomon Kotei who was unhappy about the high prices of fuel called on government to “walk the talk,” and remove the taxes that make fuel prices unbearable for consumers.
“The Ghanaian worker would get a major relief should the taxes be taken off the price build-up,” he told Business Finder in an interview.
Fuel prices hit an all-year-high last September, with petrol selling at an average price of GH¢4.29 at the pumps, and diesel going for an average of GH¢4.23 per litre.

The ICU boss described as unfortunate how “politicians in this country have deceived and continue to deceive us,” recalling that “when this present government was in opposition, the party used fuel price hikes as a campaign tool.”

According to him, the current Energy Minister gave countless reasons why fuel prices borne by Ghanaian at that time were astronomical and why it had to be slashed down drastically.

We recall how the then opposition party criticised the continuous existence of the TOR levy because “if the TOR levy should go out of the price build up we will see a significant reduction in fuel prices at the pump,” he said.

Per Mr Kotei’s argument, the taxes on fuel are the major cause of the high prices being experienced.
It will be recalled that the Minority in Parliament dared government to reduce fuel prices as it promised to do prior to election 2016. It called for an apology to Ghanaians for failing to honour that campaign promise.
According to the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Adam Mutawakilu, the NPP had been elected on the back of repeated promises to scrap ‘nuisance taxes’ imposed by the previous government, thereby reducing the cost of fuel for the ordinary Ghanaian.


Analysts have stated that, the surge in fuel prices could be among other things be as a result of crude oil price on the international market, as well as the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency – the cedi.

Some have also complained that the numerous taxes on petroleum products, could have led to a surge in prices, and have thus called on the government to review them.
NPA Boss Hassan Tampuli defended the taxes saying they help to stabilize the prices and availability of the product within the country.