Minority urges government to address petroleum price hikes

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus in Parliament has urged President Akufo-Addo to do something about the petroleum price hikes in order to cushion the ordinary Ghanaian from the global economic hardship. 

Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, speaking at a press conference at Parliament House in Accra, appealed to the Government to help mitigate the economic hardship facing Ghanaians by taking measures to address the petroleum price hikes. 

He said one would have thought that following the national address by the President, things would begin to calm down.

“It is sad, it is really, really sad to note that fuel price today is going through the roofs”. 

“The ordinary Ghanaian is suffering, workers are suffering, teachers are suffering, MPs are suffering, even the man on the street is suffering. You journalists, you are even suffering the more because you have to be moving up and down to cover stories. It is sad. It is very, very sad,” Mr Jinapor said. 

He alleged that “even more importantly, I wish to place on record that this government is making so much money from the Ukraine-Russian war.” 

He said in the 2022 budget, Government projected that it would receive a total amount of about six billion Ghana Cedis for the whole of 2022. 

“That was what was projected. Today, as we speak, from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Report, in less than three months, even the price stabilisation and recovery levy which is supposed to subsidize fuel, government projected that in the first two quarters it would receive 269 million Ghana Cedis, as we speak from the Ministry of Finance’s own record, Government has received about 800 million Ghana Cedis,” he said. 

He reiterated that the notion that Government was not making revenue was a fallacy; adding that “It is a complete falsehood. Government is making so much money from our petroleum resources.” 

He called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister of Finance to do something about this price increments. 

He urged the government to apply the alleged huge supernatural profit to cushion the ordinary Ghanaian. 

Mr Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, said “I feel very sad as a Member of Parliament, when on a daily basis, I receive calls from my members in the constituency, who cannot even afford one square meal a day”.  

“People cannot even send their kids to school because of the exorbitant fuel prices, which is having cascading effect on food prices and the general cost of living. We hold the view that Government can do something about the fuel price increment,” Mr Jinapor said. 

He suggested that the Tema Oil Refinery as a matter of urgency with immediate effect, should process Ghana’s domestic crude (oil), that could give Ghanaians about 45 thousand barrels of processed crude every day. 

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