The Member of Parliament for Akyem Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has raised strong concerns about the government’s recent decision to impose taxes to settle debts in the power sector as reported by Ghana Web.
This move comes despite repeated claims by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) that Ghana is not facing any power outages, commonly known as “dumsor.”
Acquah, a former Deputy Health Minister, questioned the logic behind taxing Ghanaians for a crisis that the government has consistently denied.
He described the taxation as unfair, emphasizing that if the power crisis did not exist as claimed, burdening citizens with extra financial charges is unjustifiable.
“Is this not the same government that claimed there was no dumsor?” he asked pointedly.
The MP expressed his disapproval of the government making citizens bear the cost of something they were told was not a problem.
He stressed that the people were led to believe that effective solutions had been implemented to prevent dumsor, yet they are now paying for debts linked to the very issue dismissed by the government.
Furthermore, Acquah rejected suggestions that the previous administration under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was responsible for the rising debts in the energy sector.
He argued that the NPP managed the sector with prudence and never resorted to taxation to cover these costs.
The current administration under President John Dramani Mahama, however, has introduced new levies, including a GH¢1 charge on petroleum products, to generate revenue for the sector.