Some angry taxi drivers on Wednesday besieged the premises of Accra-based radio station, Peace FM, to demand a reduction in the prices of petroleum products.
The aggrieved Chairman of a union known as the Wisdom Taxi Union, Kwesi Arhin, lamented that life was considerably easier for drivers under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
[contextly_sidebar id=”yx4yGgfzZSFFaCStr3dhZyUaVOJ0iBxP”]”During former President John Mahama’s era, one gallon of fuel was being sold at GHc 14, then candidate Nana Addo came to our station and promised to reduce the price when voted into office.”
“Since Nana Addo took office, he has done well, but the current increment in fuel prices is not helpful at all. We are pleading with Nana Addo that at last, he can bring the fuel price back to the GHc 14, as it was being sold for during Mahama’s era,” Mr. Arhin pleaded.
The angry taxi drivers also besieged TV3 to put their concerns across.
Commercial drivers nationwide have raised concerns about the fuel price increments, with drivers in the Volta Region recently complaining about the unannounced increment, which they said is killing their business as the increases do not always tally with transport fares.
Things may not get worse for the drivers as the Institute of Energy Security (IES) is predicting fairly stable fuel prices for the first pricing window in October 2017.
The IES notes indicators such as the stability of the cedi as well as a 6% drop in gasoline price.
Fuel prices hit all-year-high in September 2017, with petrol selling at an average price of GHc4.29 at the pumps, and diesel going for an average of GHc4.23 per litre.
The surge in fuel prices was blamed on, among other things, the multiple taxes and margins slapped on the products.
This has compelled some groups and policy think tanks including the IES and the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, to call on the government to review the taxes to make the products cheaper on the Ghanaian market.
But the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, is adamant, insisting that the taxes are in the interest of consumers and cannot be removed.
Prior to the sharp surge in the price of fuel in September, data from the NPA showed that prices only increased marginally between February and March 2017, but dropped significantly between April and July.
The NPA suggested that, the recent price surge could be attributed to the recent hurricanes that ravaged the United States of America, which has led to the diversion of fuel products from Europe meant for south, west and central African countries.
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By: Eugenia Tenkorang & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana