The West Africa Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, has criticised the decision to burden consumers with additional tariffs arising from the impact of illegal mining on utility providers.
Ghana Water Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana have attributed their proposed 200 percent tariff increase to rising operational costs caused by illegal mining activities.
Reacting to the development on Sunday, October 19, 2025, Mr. Adomako argued that the government should focus on tackling the menace of illegal mining rather than passing the cost on to consumers.
“We understand that treatment costs have gone up, but we saw in 2017, when the government began an aggressive war against galamsey, that turbidity levels improved and water quality returned to normal. It has happened before, and progress was made.
“So, let us marshal the state resources we have and confront the principalities of galamsey in our communities. We can do that, rather than placing the burden on consumers. Once we allow this to happen, future tariffs will be built on it — and they will never come down,” he said.
Galamsey driving up utility costs — ECG, GWL justify 200% tariff proposal