In a statement, the executives of the two unions stated that BOST is the only institution with the adequate infrastructure and the human resource capacity to bring petroleum prices down.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nvsuCm1UOD2YwMsMXZRaPxfK04VqyYoP”]Thus, they have said the government should pay attention to them and ignore the persons within the company who have formed a great cartel that has dominated the industry.

Prior to the Easter break, the executives of the two unions; Abdul Jamil, Ekow Sey, Mr. Mampaya, and Mr Newton Godfred Amoh, spoke on several radio stations mainly in Accra and Kumasi, where they cautioned the government against a “great cartel” in the petroleum industry.

“…the government is preventing the same cartel from their illegal activities such as fuel dumping, diversion of premix fuel, diversion of marine fuel, adulteration of fuel etc. For this reason, they are not happy, and will therefore mislead the government by increasing fuel prices anyhow with the excuse that international fuel prices have gone up,” they said.

They further stated that the great cartel has been in the system for long and will only be suppressed when the President, the Vice President, Chief of Staff and the Energy Minister understand the important role that BOST can play to bring petroleum prices down.

“Government should know that in the deregulation petroleum regime like ours without any giant governmental agency playing a role;  even if the government removes all taxes the private sector which now controls the industry will replace it with profit in a smart way leaving the ordinary consumers in their vulnerable state; hence reducing taxes is not the ultimate option,” the statement added.

On the part of Mr. Mampaya, the Chairman of the Junior Staff Union he categorically stated that in most cases those in right positions to deal with the problems are given wrong advice.

He cautioned that if the government ignored their advice, “this great cartel whose members have made themselves kingmakers can worry the government in 2020 election because the ground is being prepared for that.”

Find below a section of the statement from the BOST unions

What is happening now is that BOST is crippled so petroleum market in the country has been taken over by the great cartel. On the contrary the government is preventing the same cartel from their illegal activities such as fuel damping, diversion of premix fuel, diversion of marine fuel, aldulteration of fuel etc. For this reason they are not happy and will therefore mislead the government by increasing fuel prices anyhow with the excuses that international fuel prices have gone up. They were enjoying all the illegal activities previously and will only be happy when that opportunity is available to them. To avoid this agenda of the great cartel, it is advisable to empower the 100% government owned BOST to compete with them so that their plans will be curtailed.

Mr Newton Godfred Amoh who is the secretary to the Local Union also said most of the members of the great cartel are highly rich and can easily influence government officials to act unreasonably. He said apart from Ghana there is nothing called BDCs anywhere in the world but here the BDCs are controlling the affairs to the extend that in 2014 they took the entire nation into ransom. He further stated that when the great cartel realised that BOST was planning to redeem Ghanaians from the burden of high petroleum prices, they quickly attacked the Managing Director with baseless, malicious, illogical and childish accusations to halt the intended plans. He added that the great cartel has a lot of incredible civil society groups as their members and they always hide behind such groups and sponsor them to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians.

During his turn Mr Ekoy Sey the secretary of the Senior Staff Union expressed dissatisfaction about the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance’s refusal to waive the single obligor limit on GCB to offer USD 120 million line of credit to BOST for petroleum product importation. He said the laws are made to make life easy for Ghanaians but not the opposite. He pointed out that today fuel price at the pump is about GHS4.51 per litre on the average leading to  GHS20.30 per gallon but if this waiver is granted BOST can bring the price down to about GHS 4.00 per litre and GHS 18.00 per gallon which will be affordable to all and most  importantly BOST will be able to maintain the same price for a very long time through the trading arrangement existing between BOST, GO Energy and Goil. He concluded that if the situation is not arrested the price will go up again in the next window thereby rendering the tax reduction granted useless.

Mr Abdul Jamil who is the Chairman of the Senior Staff union lamented that President Akufo-Addo should continue to repose confidence in the Managing Director of BOST, Mr Alfred Obeng Boateng because the man is hard-working, innovative, competent and above all the most incorruptible Managing Director the company  has had in recent years. “This is the man who has blocked most of the loopholes in the company and has attracted enemies to himself but has vowed to standby his plans to turn the company round in order to leave a mark irrespective of the subotage and the frustrations”.  What amazes the staff is that he has brought unity to the company, assign everybody contrary to the previous administration where some people were on old salary scale whilst others enjoyed new salary scale. A few people who are agents of the great cartel will soon be exposed and hope that the MD will sanction them accordingly. As we speak two staff suspected to leak fake information to outsiders have been interdicted and a five member committee has been set up to investigate them and submit their report  within 2 weeks. If found culpable I have no doubt of management sacking them summarily. “We cannot sit down for a few people to destroy BOST which is strategically positioned to serve the nation just because of their selfish interest which is always placed above the national interest”: Mr Abdul Jamil stated.

He enumerated some of the policies that the new Managing Director has brought to BOST which is causing all the hatred and dislike by the members of the great cartel. The excellent decisions to safe the company is the cause of the frequent attack on him since he assumed office in January 2017.

1. In the past the members of the great cartel could divert about 10 trucks each of 50000 litre of fuel and sold into their pockets leaving BOST in debt. Today such practices are things of the past because of the measures put in place by Mr Obeng. Thus he has reshuffled the loading terminal (APD) transmission team and many other things.
2. Another disturbing canker that had been eliminated which is also causing anger among the members of the great cartel is the policy that contaminated product can no longer be sold to BOST staff and any employee involved in causing it would face criminal trial. The result is that since the assumption of office by Mr Obeng the fuel contamination that was very rampant in the past has ceased. No contamination has happened since 25th January 2017 to date.
3. In the past products were sent to Burkina Faso, Mali, Liberia and sometimes Nigeria without any financial instruments to secure it. Till date there is a huge debt in our books against those foreign companies which cannot be traced. Perhaps it was one of the means that the members of the great cartel were siphoning BOST money. The present Managing Director said we cannot continue to injure our own national company so bad like that, henceforth any export must be on cash and carry transaction basis.
4. It may interest you to know that some BDCs were given products without invoice meaning they were getting the products free of charge at the expense of BOST and some of them still feel bitter when the new management put measures to eliminate such fraudulent practices in the company.
5. BDCs were storing their products in BOST system and some were either not paying the storage fees at all or paying for only one month irrespective of the number of months that the products were kept in the system. The incorruptible, competent  current Managing Director’s bold decision to ensure that every BDC pays for Storage and Rack fee fully and for storage fees on monthly basis has also offended the members of the great cartel.

Conclusion

The loopholes that Mr Obeng led administration has blocked are many and therefore he and his team deserve commendation and support from the media and the general public to be able to withstand the unnecessary attack directing to them periodically.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Great cartel’ manipulating fuel prices – BOST staff warn gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Mahama also warned that the high price of fuel, particularly Liquefied Petroleum Gas, had long-term degrading effects on the environment because of the cheaper, but more destructive alternative of charcoal.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Lw42bZ6V4XmqGv71Excq4qdLKlcIBjWD”]Speaking at the latest in the series of National Democratic Congress unity walks in the Eastern Region, he reminded the New Patriotic Party of its promise to relieve Ghanaians of such burdens.

“We were told that it [petrol] was too expensive and that 50 percent of the petrol was made up of taxes alone and that when they win and come into office, they would remove the taxes so that petrol will [be cheaper]. Today petrol is selling at GHc 22 per gallon.”

“I am even more concerned about LPG because LPG was about GHc40 before December 7. Today LPG is more than GHc80. What it means is that for those who cannot afford LPG, they will go back to using charcoal and we all know the implications of using charcoal. When you use charcoal, it degrades the environment and so government should do something about the price of LPG particularly,” the former President stated.

Mr. Mahama further called on the government to do more to relieve consumers of the pressure.

“We [the NDC government] managed to stabilize the price of fuel in 2016 before we left. Even though we had deregulated, we found a way of making sure that prices remained stable. Now the extent to which [the price of fuel] keep going up is a worry, and so I think it  is something that government should look at.”

Situation on the ground

Checks by Citi Business News at some major Oil Marketing Companies showed that petroleum prices dropped by less than GHc1 at the pumps after Parliament passed the Special Petroleum Tax Amendment Bill to reduce that much-criticized tax from 15 percent to 13 percent.

The likes of Total, Shell and Goil were selling at a litre of Petrol at GHc 4.51. This represented a 3.5 percent reduction from the earlier GHc4. 67 pesewas.

Similarly, the price of a litre of diesel dropped from GHc4.67 to GHc4.49.

This meant the average price of a gallon of petrol and diesel at the pumps was about GHc 17, despite Former President Mahama’s assertion that the a gallon of fuel was around GHc 22.

‘Insignificant reduction’

The amendment to the tax followed recent protests on the rising cost of fuel, as well as calls from the minority for the Special Petroleum Tax to be scrapped.

The reduction did little to assuage the fears of some observers like the Institute of Energy Security (IES) and Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, who slammed the reduction as insignificant.

The observers insisted that the Special Petroleum Tax should be scrapped completely.

About the Special Petroleum Tax

The Special Petroleum Tax Law was passed in 2014 as part of tax measures adopted by the government at the time to increase revenue generation and improve efficiency on revenue collection from petroleum products.

The Tax was initially set at 17.5%, but was reviewed downwards by 2.5 percent in the 2017 budget.

The law authorizes the Ghana Revenue Authority to collect the tax, which would be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

The petroleum products to be affected, according to the Finance Ministry include petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas and kerosene.

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By: Neil Amatey Kanarku & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Mahama slams gov’t over ‘high cost’ of fuel appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The amendment comes after recent protests against the rising cost of fuel, as well as calls from the minority for the Special Petroleum Tax to be scrapped.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TCIhUYweIWIeF3oItP3XrtKioBT8HUNA”]Speaking to Citi Business News, a Deputy Finance Minister, Kweku Kwarteng, stated that making the Special Petroleum tax a specific levy would minimize its impact on consumers.

He explained that the amendment will protect Ghanaians in the future when petroleum prices go up on the international market.

“The Special Petroleum Tax was introduced by the Mahama administration. I do not think if they thought it was that bad, they would introduce it. When they introduced it, we did criticize it that they ought not to make it ad-valorem. They ought not to make it a percentage of the price because it will mean that as fuel prices go up, the taxes would also up,” he recalled.

According to him, the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) members  in Parliament did not describe the tax as needles, but rather pushed for it to be made a specific tax.

Mr. Kwarteng pointed out that the minority at the time insisted that the tax be made a specific tax, to cushion Ghanaians anytime there is a price hike on the world market.

“What we have demonstrated today [Thursday] is that which we believed in. That is why we have converted it from ad valorem to a specific tax. So if you want to know the exact impact, let’s wait a couple of months down the line when fuel prices are high and then you ask me if the special petroleum tax was still ad valorem.? what would have been the tax level, and then at that point you would be able to see the real significance of the amendment that we have achieved in parliament today,” he argued.

Admitting that the current amendment will not reduce the prices of fuel at the pumps, Mr. Kwarteng appealed to Ghanaians to appreciate the purpose of the reduction.

“There is some reduction, but our focus is not a reduction in the fuel prices now. It is a long-term strategy to ensure that consumers pay less as fuel prices go up in the international market,” he said.

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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Special Petroleum Tax reduced by 2% appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

However, a swift intervention from government through the National Petroleum Authority (NPA)’s price stabilization mechanism could keep prices stable.

The Institute of Energy Security (IES) which revealed this, further attributes the development to the constant rise in crude oil prices which is currently selling at 69 dollars per barrel on the international market, among other factors.

“Crude oil prices have gone up on the international market and it is still rising; as we speak the cost of a barrel of oil is averaging around 69 dollars from a previous average of 67.7 dollars. That’s a rise of about 2 percent. The finished product that’s gasoline and gas oil prices have also gone up on the international market,” Principal Research Analyst at the IES, Richmond Rockson told Citi Business News in an interview.

Consumers have had to pay more at the pumps last month (January 2018), due to rise in oil prices and the cedi’s marginal depreciation.

Currently, a litre each of petrol and diesel is selling at 4 cedis 62 pesewas at some major fuel stations.

Mr. Rockson explained the trend of the fuel price stability to Citi Business News.

“In the first pricing window of December 2017, government reduced the price stabilization recovery levy in the price build up from 10 pesewas to 3 pesewas, that’s a 70 percent reduction. In the second pricing window of December, it moved from the 3 pesewas up to the 7 pesewas. That means the subsidy was just about 3 pesewas. In the first pricing window of January, government applied it to the increment that was supposed to be experienced by consumers. That was just about 4 percent. Most of the OMC’s did not increase prices at the time.  But in the last pricing window, it wasn’t enough so prices went up at between 25%,” he explained.

But Richmond Rockson says prices will go up again should government not intervene.

“So in this particular window, for the first pricing window of February if government intervenes in the price stabilization mechanism, then definitely that means prices that are supposed to go up will be absorbed by that levy. If government does not intervene, we are expecting that prices will go up by about 2 percent” he asserted.

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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Fuel prices to rise by 2% in February – IES  appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Checks by Citi Business News at some major oil marketing companies have shown that the prices of fuel were kept unchanged for the period spanning January 1, 2018 to January 15, 2018.

A litre each of petrol and diesel is being sold at 4 cedis 49 pesewas at Goil.

Also, Shell kept its prices for a litre each of petrol and diesel unchanged at 4 cedis 49 pesewas.

Total Petroleum increased its prices by some four percent on Thursday, January 4, 2018.

A litre each of petrol and diesel therefore sold at 4 cedis 67 pesewas.

But as at the evening of Friday, January 5, 2017, the company has reviewed its price downwards.

The prices have since been reduced to 4 cedis 49 pesewas to per litre each of petrol and diesel.

It is unclear what may have led to the reversed decision but the OMCs that had increased their prices had attributed the increases to the rise in global crude oil prices.

But, SO Energy has increased its prices by about one percent for a litre of petrol and diesel to sell at 4 cedis 47 pesewas.

The development with OMCs maintaining their prices marks the fourth time that fuel prices have been kept unchanged despite the reduction by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in the price stabilization levy component on diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

The NPA reduced the price stabilization levy by 70% each on diesel and LPG.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post OMCs maintain prices for first pricing window in January appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a statement, COPEC said it checks had revealed that there has been a 4 percent increase in fuel prices at some pumps.

[contextly_sidebar id=”XZIsLV5PrrM2S6oyr5OXtXKadfS0zG0K”]”Fuel prices that used to trade at GHc4.490/litre for both petrol and diesel, have seen an increase to GHc 4.670, a difference of about 18p or some 4.008% increases,” COPEC said.

The Chamber called on the government to take a second look at the current price build up as it believes “these increases will continue for a very long time if nothing is done about the pricing template and the numerous taxes.”

“These increases coming on the back of an earlier threat by the GPRTU on its intended transport fare increases will certainly put a lot of pressure on the consuming and commuting public,” it added.

Activation of stabilization levy

At the end of 2017, the NPA announced that prices of petrol and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) would remain fairly stable at the pumps from January 1.

The Authority added that, it had activated the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy to prevent the potential increase in the price of diesel.

Before this, the NPA had directed all Oil Marketing Companies and LPG Marketing Companies to use revised prices in the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy Act to control recent price increases in petroleum products.

This followed a directive from the Ministry of Energy following fluctuations in the prices of petroleum products due to strong political and economic influence from oil-producing countries across the world.

Find below the Chamber’s full statement

CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS-GHANA

4% FUEL PRICE INCREASES

PRICES CURRENTLY GOING UP AT THE PUMPS.

Contrary to an earlier notice on January 1, 2018 by the National Petroleum Authority, indicating some interventions to keep fuel prices stable at the pumps through the month of January, we can confirm that fuel prices across some pumps have been adjusted by as much as 4%, today the 4th day of January.

Fuel prices that used to trade at Ghc4.490/litre for both petrol and diesel have seen an increase to 4.670 a difference of about 18p or some 4.008% increases.

Our roving team continues to keep an eye on the development as well as increases across the other pumps.

These increases coming on the back of an earlier threat by the GPRTU on its intended transport fare increases will certainly put a lot of pressure of the consuming and commuting public.

We reiterate our calls on the government to take a second look at the current price build up as we believe these increases will continue for a very long time if nothing is done about the pricing template and the numerous taxes.

Signed: Duncan Amoah, Executive Secretary, Copec Ghana

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Fuel prices go up by 4% despite NPA’s assurances – COPEC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The NPA in a statement explained that, this is “in line with a drop in crude and petroleum prices on the world market, as well as stability in the exchange rate.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”gqAS60LpAFQ0yocbJ8A99ErlSbEKTEgq”]The Authority added that, it had “activated the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy to stem potential upward adjustment in the price of diesel.”

“The NPA wishes to assure the public of its commitment to monitor the situation in order to ensure the full benefit of the reduction is felt,” the statement further indicated.

Fuel prices hit all-year

In September 2017, it emerged that Ghanaians were paying more for petrol and diesel few months after enjoying fairly low prices.

Figures from the petroleum industry had shown that, prices of the two products at the various fuel stations had hit all time high, with petrol selling at an average of GHc4.29 at the pumps, and diesel going for an average of GHc4.23 per litre, as at the third week of September 2017.

The increase had been attributed to the marginal depreciation of the cedi, as well as increased global crude oil prices due to the floods in the US which affected production at major oil companies.

IES predicts no fuel price increase

The Institute of Energy Securities (IES ) had also predicted  that consumers will not experience any significant price change at the pumps in the first pricing window of December 2017.

The Principal Research Analyst at the IES, Richmond Rockson, who made this prediction in an interview with Citi Business News explained that, despite the fast depreciation of the cedi against the dollar, the effect on petrol prices will be minimal.

“In the next pricing window which is the first pricing window in December, we foresee fuel prices remaining fairly stable, when I say fairly stable what I mean is that, we are not expecting any price change, and even if there will be a change in prices it won’t be significant”.

“The cedi is depreciating at a fast rate even though it is selling around 4 cedis 6 pesewas on the foreign exchange market. The average for the period is 4 cedis 48 pesewas, as compared to the previous average of 4 cedis 41 pesewas”

He explained that, the depreciation of the cedi would reflect in a price change of less than one percent for petrol, and therefore will be insignificant.

“Virtually a depreciation of 1.5 percent. Crude oil prices have remained fairly stable as well, and the difference is less than one percent,” he said.

NPA revises fuel prices downward through Price Stabilization levy

On December 1, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) also directed all Oil Marketing Companies, and LPG Marketing Companies to use revised prices in the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy Act to control recent price increases in petroleum products.

This followed a directive from the Ministry of Energy, raising concerns about the recent fluctuations in the prices of petroleum products due to strong political and economic influence from oil producing countries across the world.

In line with the directive, the Authority was expected to revise the cost of the levy which is one major component in the determination of petroleum prices.

By this, the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy for petrol will remain at 12 pesewas per liter, while diesel and LPG are revised to 3 pesewas per liter from 10 pesewas per liter.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Petrol, LPG prices to remain stable at pumps – NPA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Some Ghanaians who spoke on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, were hopeful for among other things, a drop in a number of taxes and levies, and the provision of jobs for  skilled but unemployed citizens.

A taxi driver, Lotsu Sitsofe, said that he was hoping for a reduction in the taxes and levies on petroleum products which would result in a reduction in fuel prices for commercial drivers.

According to him, the drivers who already struggle to make enough money for their upkeep daily, have to spend a lot of what they make on fuel purchases.

He also stated that, aside having to buy fuel for their cars, the drivers have to meet other financial commitments which additionally drains their incomes.

“My expectation is for government to reduce the fuel [prices] for us commercial drivers because we are suffering, and the taxes are too much. You buy fuel and have to pay tax so what exactly are we taking home? The drivers are dying, if you have a car owner and you have to make sales, how much can you make in a day? The tax alone; insurance, income tax and other individual taxes. The commercial drivers are holding the nation. They fill their tanks early in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evenings because they move around, while private car owners can fill their cars once in a week,” he lamented.

“We could make about 70 cedis after a whole day and have to pay about 20 cedis now for fuel. For drivers who have to pay car owners, they would have to pay about 50 cedis to the owners. You want your car to be in a good condition, and your car needs to have fuel everyday as a commercial driver. You need to feed your children – I have two – and the rest of your family.”

Veterinary doctors cry for employment 

Two unemployed veterinary doctors who have had to remain at home despite completing their housemanship requirements, also called on government to provide an allocation in the budget for financial clearance in order for them to be absorbed into the public service.

The doctors expressed dissatisfaction with government’s inability to employ them, despite the crucial role they play in general public healthcare.

Dr. Emmanuel Kodua, who graduated in 2016 and completed his housemanship in September 2017, stated that he had not been paid since completing the programme, and was struggling as a result, given the massive financial outlays he has had to make within the period.

“Formally, you are supposed to get appointment letters, but we weren’t given. And because it’s mandatory to do our housemanship, we went ahead and did it, and because we weren’t given our appointment letters, we were not going to be paid. We’ve finished the programme successfully without receiving the letters which means that I have finished the programme without being paid my due salary. I finished my housemanship programme in September and since then, I’ve been at home without being employed,” he said.

“It isn’t good that after devoting seven years of your life to study to benefit the nation, the nation thinks it’s not ready to employ you for the reason you went to school. This time that we’re in, things are very difficult with rent and utility bills. Even during our housemanship, you have to use your own funds for a place to stay and are not paid for it. We are being put at a point where we can’t breathe.”

Another veterinary doctor, Dr. Kwesi Adjei Safo, who has been unemployed since completing his housemanship in 2016, echoed the concerns with the ‘difficult’ situation they were in, particularly after the big commitments they had made to get trained in the first place.

He spoke of his struggles to complete his course and having had to rely on a philanthropist to pay his fees.

“I finished my housemanship in 2016, and haven’t been employed since then. The issue has got to do with financial clearance according to our authorities. Things are very difficult,”he said.

“Being trained as a veterinary surgeon is about three times more difficult and more expensive than being trained as a medical surgeon but then you come out and don’t have a job.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post #Ghbudget: Ghanaians demand fuel price reduction, jobs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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

The post Taxi drivers besiege Peace FM over fuel price hikes appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ALwiYxx9zDTyzoVE1IY2h8sQYyv7N3MH”]Fuel prices hit an all-year-high in September, 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 NPA has also culled hopes of a reduction in the prices anytime soon, stating that the taxes on the petroleum products were in the interest of Ghanaians.

However, the Damongo MP, believes that with the number of assurances the NPP has given to the public during the campaign and since assuming power, the government owed Ghanaians an apology for their failure to ensure stability in fuel prices.

“It’s a matter of principle and consistency.  Whatever they told us, they should do it, otherwise they should apologize to Ghanaians. They would not be the first to do that. Former President Kufuor promised to slash down the number of Ministers, when he came into office, he told Ghanaians that he didn’t know that is the nature of governance,” he said.

“If they are coming to confess to Ghanaians that they deceived us during the elections they should come out and say it and not use gymnastics.”

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.

But Adam Mutawakilu believes that the NPP’s criticism of the Mahama administration’s handling of fuel pricing seemed to suggest that they had plans in place to address the challenges.

“We were in this country in March 2015, when there was an increase in petroleum prices, [Bawumia] raised issues with respect to the increase, and that government was insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians. When the NDC government brought the special petroleum tax of 17.5, we heard what the NPP said about it. The current Chairman of Finance Committee said he was willing to shed his blood to resist the tax. When we brought in the Energy Sector Levy, the NPP in opposition made it categorically clear that if they come into power they will scrap it,” he said.

“When they got power, the Minister-designate of Finance, said petroleum prices would not increase and would remain the same. Nine months down the line, the Energy Minister is saying there’s nothing he can do [about the increase]. You don’t just get up and speak. I believed that when they were criticizing us, they had alternatives which is why they said they would scrap it.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Apologise for ‘deceiving’ Ghanaians on removal of fuel taxes – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.