The leadership of the People’s National Convention (PNC) has rubbished the recent hikes in utility tariff and the cost of petroleum products describing it as “a climax of government’s insensitivity to the Ghanaian people.”
According to the General Secretary of the party, Mohammed Atik “these paradoxical increases happened at a time when economies are enjoying respite due to reduction in world crude oil prices.”
There is no gainsaying it that, the party pointed out, “these cruel increases have dire implications on the social and economic lives of our people. Energy is a major input in many production processes, therefore an increase such as that which we have witnessed recently, tends to raise the cost of production” adding that “consequently, consumers are made to pay more for goods and services.”
Recognizing that real incomes in the country continue to suffer a downward spiral, the party noted, “these increases are nothing less than insensitivity in the superlative” the repercussions of which, the party went on, is beginning to manifest as in the increase in transportation fares by the “Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU).”
In the estimation of the PNC, “government has elected deliberately, to punish Ghanaians for their own incompetence and management failings. After mismanaging the country’s resources through corruption and irrational expenditures, the Mahama led administration seems now to be possessed by the spirit of over taxation.”
At every turn, the party observed, “Government is sniffing for openings to squeeze all kinds of taxes from Ghanaians. This attitude is what has accounted for the recent unfortunate petroleum price hikes and the resultant increases in sachet water price and transport fares.”
“A party that promised to “care for you” is now by all accounts, “caring less about you” PNC stated adding that, “It does not care what happens to your wellbeing when transport fares rise and therefore, will instigate higher petroleum prices without any critical thought, at the slightest opportunity.”
Culpability for the increase in transport fares, PNC said, “should be placed squarely on the NDC government and not the GPRTU.”
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