The government of Ghana has no justifiable reason to continue with the Energy Sector Levy imposed by the previous administration, Duncan Amoah, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC-GH), has indicated.
The National Democratic Congress government introduced the energy sector levy which resulted in a 38 per cent increment in the price of petroleum products.
This levy was supposed to be used to offset some debts owed by government, but Mr Amoah believes it is a burden on consumers.
The current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, prior to the 7 December polls, promised to scrap all “nuisance taxes and levies” and the Chamber believes the time to act is now.
“Inasmuch as government has debts to pay, Ghanaians equally have individual debts, so government cannot service those debts altogether at once looking for those revenues from us while we continue to suffer,” Mr Amoah told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 15 February.
He admitted that government had made some efforts towards a review and was optimistic that it would reflect in the annual budget.
For him, failure on the part of government will result in a protest because the burden of high fuel costs on consumers is unbearable.
“They have made some suggestions. We are waiting for the budget in March. If there is no review at all, Ghanaians can be rest assured that we will have a standoff with this government,” he added.
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