General News of Thursday, 18 January 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-01-18
Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko
Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko has described as unfounded accusations the president breached sections of the law by announcing electricity tariff reduction.
He said the same law gives right to individuals and institutions to make proposals on electricity prices and wondered why the president will be exempt from making the same proposals.
The president Nana Akufo-Addo has come under heavy criticisms for announcing 14% reduction in prices of electricity prices.
“From January this year, the non-residential tariff rate, which is the rate which includes all of you here, is being reduced by an average of 14%. For barbers, it is being reduced by 18%; for hairdressers and beauticians, 15.7%, and for tailors, 9.8%.”
“An average bill last year was GH¢562 a month. With this reduction from January, it is coming down to GH¢473 a month, which means GH¢88 has been taken from the electricity tariff that you pay. We want to encourage private business, and make business stand on its feet,” the president said.
For a country whose residents have been used to hikes in tariffs, the news about a reduction appears rather to have been entangled in some kind of controversy merely because of who announced it first.
Members of the Minority in Parliament have been quick with a criticism against the president. John Jinapor who was Deputy Power Minister under the erstwhile John Mahama administration, says the president has no business announcing the tariff reduction.
PURC Act, 1997, Act 538 (sections 3a and 16) gives power to the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission to set rates and prices of utilities.
John Jinapor said the haste with which the president announced the tariff reduction is a usurpation of the powers of the PURC.
But the Energy Minister maintains the president did nothing wrong.
He said as required by law, the president on behalf of government announced proposals for a reduction, having looked at all the numbers.
“So far we have not had any negative responses from the PURC,” he said.
He wondered why this has become a debate.
“Is it good for this country to have power reduction?” he asked, describing the ongoing debate as “trivial.”
Even though he welcomed the price reduction, Dr. Steve Manteaw, a policy analyst with the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) said attempts by the Minister to justify a “colossal blunder” by the president is rather unfortunate.