General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr. Bernard Mornah has lashed out at the two largest political parties – the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) – in the country for their role in the recent petroleum price hikes.
According to him, both the NPP and the NDC in their various presentations and arguments concerning petroleum pricing and the TOR debt, have proven that they do not differ in any way.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Big Issues, Mr. Mornah argued that when the expositions of both parties on petroleum pricing in the country is taken into context, the only thing that differentiates the NDC from the NPP is just their slogan. To him, the NDC lacks the moral right to increase fuel prices considering their earlier positions on the increment when they were in opposition and the NPP, which was then in power, astronomically hiked the price of the commodity in 2008.
The CJA activist expressed disappointment at the NPP for the strong denunciation being levelled at the current government for the recent hike in fuel prices, pointing out that the NPP should rather be proud that the NDC is implementing their (NPPs) policies.
“If you listen to arguments from the NPP and the NDC on the fuel prices and the problems arising, you will come to the conclusion that the two political parties certainly do not differ in any way, apart from slogan. I think the NPP should take pride that their policies are being implemented by the NDC and therefore they should take credit and not the condemnation that I find,” he said.
The PNC General Secretary blamed the genesis of the petroleum hullabaloo on the decision to place taxes on petroleum products in the first place.
“Until 1988, there were no taxes on petroleum products in Ghana; government of Ghana was getting its revenue from many other sources. It took the NDAC in 1988, to say considering the dire economic situation that they find themselves in, petroleum products which have elastic demand should be taxed and that was the first time that petroleum products were taxed and that was the beginning of all the sufferings we are encountering today,” he noted.
Mr. Mornah also held the NPP responsible for some of the associated challenges confronting the country’s petroleum industry.
“The first thing the NPP did when they came to power was to increase the price of fuel prices and gave the reasons that there was smuggling of petroleum products in Ghana into neighbouring countries and therefore to stop smuggling, there is the need to increase fuel prices… can you imagine the logic? Smuggling is a security issue so if there is smuggling and our security is not up to the task to check smuggling, should the public pay the price for the inefficiencies of the security agencies? I find that very strange but that was one of the argument that the NPP used,” he added.