The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has strongly rejected the latest utility tariff increases announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), insisting that the adjustments are unjustified and must be reversed immediately.
In a statement sighted by Citi Newsroom on Sunday, December 7, the association said the decision to raise electricity tariffs by 9.8% and water tariffs by 15.9% is “unacceptable, unjustifiable, and insensitive,” especially at a time when the public is still seeking clarity on how the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) intends to tackle the inefficiencies highlighted by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
FABAG argued that the PURC cannot “sweep ECG’s cancer under the carpet,” insisting that the company’s chronic operational failures, including financial leakages, mismanagement, and persistent revenue losses, remain the real cause of the sector’s instability.
According to the association, the ECG and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) have become major obstacles to economic development, stressing that ECG in particular “has become the very disease it was created to cure,” draining productivity and public confidence across the economy.
The statement further listed inefficiencies, corruption, poor work attitudes, technical losses, and substandard service delivery as issues that must be addressed before consumers are asked to pay more. FABAG maintained that Ghanaians “cannot continue paying for the incompetence and corrupt acts” of the two utility companies.
FABAG called on the PURC and government to immediately reverse the tariff increases and prioritize comprehensive reforms targeting both ECG and GWCL. It argued that Ghana “cannot tax or tariff-increase its way out of a broken power and water sector,” and urged authorities to pursue restructuring, digitisation, accountability, and improved revenue management rather than imposing higher costs on already struggling businesses.
The association outlined five key demands:
1. Immediate suspension of the tariff increase.
2. A full operational audit of ECG and GWCL with findings made public.
3. An aggressive technical loss-reduction programme with measurable quarterly targets.
4. Enforcement of accountability, including prosecution for internal theft and illegal connections.
5. Adoption of an efficiency-based cost-recovery model instead of continuous tariff hikes.