Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has strongly responded to opposition criticism of the newly introduced GH₵1 energy levy.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, he accused the minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) of hypocrisy, saying they “cannot love pork soup and hate pork meat,” referring to the numerous taxes they imposed during their 8 years in government.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu outlined several economic improvements under the current administration. He noted that the price of a gallon of oil has dropped from about GH₵1,000 to GH₵650.
He also mentioned that many industries, including beverage producers, have reduced their prices, which he said shows a reduction in hardships for Ghanaians.
The minister added that the exchange rate for the US dollar has improved significantly. While previously a dollar cost between 16 and 17 Ghana cedis, it now trades below 11 cedis.
He argued these facts demonstrate the government’s efforts to ease economic difficulties.
Minister Kwakye Ofosu explained the need for the energy levy increase, saying it is a necessary step to address urgent challenges in the power sector.
“But Mr. Speaker, I was making the point that whereas it is the duty of government to reduce hardships, it is also our duty to ensure that if we face imminent threats to the power sector, we act timeously to avert same. This arrangement, through the increase of ESLA, would ensure that at the very least this year, $500 million, equivalent to about 5.7 billion Ghana cedis, is available for the purchase of fuel,” he explained.
He criticized the previous government for excluding fuel costs from electricity pricing, calling it a “convenient political decision” that postponed the problem instead of solving it.
Ofosu said “And Mr. Speaker, the only reason why fuel does not form part of power or electricity pricing is that they took a convenient political decision to exclude it in their price build-up in the hope that they could defer today’s problem to tomorrow. That kind of governance always catches up with you.”
The minister also challenged the opposition’s use of percentage figures to claim large increases in fuel prices. Quoting economics professor Aaron Liebenstein, he said statistics can be misleading, like bikinis, showing some truth but hiding important facts.
He stated “What you see is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. The reason why he cited percentages is to create a misleading impression that there has been an over-the-top increase in the price of fuel.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu insisted that despite the levy increase, the overall effect is a net reduction in fuel prices due to other economic factors and prudent government policies.
He accused the opposition of deliberately concealing these facts to create a false impression.
He stressed “The total cumulative effect of this increase will be a net reduction because other factors contributed to by the economic prudence of this government have resulted in a consistent downward trend in the price of fuel. Those are the facts that he sought to conceal by stating those misleading statistics.”
The minister reminded Parliament that the NPP introduced over 30 different taxes during their time in power.
He said it is inconsistent for them to now oppose a small increase in an existing tax.
“A party that introduced more than 30 different taxes within a space of 8 years cannot possibly be outraged over a minimal increase in an existing tax. They cannot reprobate and approbate. They cannot love taxes and hate taxes at the same time. They cannot hate pork and eat pork soup. Mr. Speaker, if they were genuinely concerned about the Ghanaian people, they would not have slapped the multiplicity of taxes they did on them when they were in power.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu assured that the government will use the funds from the energy levy increase to tackle the biggest threat to Ghana’s economy and the debt burden in the power sector.
“We are compelled to take this measure and we do so at a time when we have demonstrated capacity to reduce the burden of the Ghanaian people. And we commit to using the resources that accrue from this increase in the levy in a manner that sustainably addresses the biggest risk to the Ghanaian economy, which is the debt overhang in the power sector.”
Source :www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
