Ghanaians weep over killer tariffs

Ghanaians have vented their spleen of anger on the government of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), following the sharp increase in tariffs of water and electricity bills by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC).

A cross-section of traders, workers and small-scale operators interviewed by Today lashed out at the Mills administration, describing the increase in the utility bills as “abnormal” and a measure that will further deepen the already economic hardships that Ghanaians are saddled with.

According to them, by this policy the NDC as a party and a government has clearly demonstrated that they do not think of the ordinary masses of this country.

They were of the view that all that the government thinks of is to impoverish Ghanaians and nothing more. They intimated that the new increase in the water and electricity bills would not help at all, but will further lead to the collapse and winding up of many small-scale enterprises which find it very difficult to raise capital and break even.

The market women and petty traders complained bitterly that it will be very difficult to see Ghanaians patronizing their goods since their income would have to be expended on the consumption of water and electricity.

“…We the market women are going to suffer now that it has been made public that Ghanaians will be paying more for electricity and water. It therefore stands to reason that there is going to be low patronage of our goods and services,” Madam Adwoa Adoabea, a trader at Kwame Nkrumah Circle told our team of reporters.

“The NDC by this action has demonstrated loud and clear that it is insensitive to the economic plights of Ghanaians,” David Boateng, a Tailor at Avenor near Kwame Nkrumah Circle asserted.

Mr Boateng went on to say that should people even decide to stop using electricity and rather use the services of generators they will still need to buy fuel, which according to him, will be very expensive Those interviewed by the paper could not reconcile the increase to the Better Ghana Agenda professed by the President Mills and his government.

“If this is the Better Ghana Agenda that Professor Mills then candidate of the NDC party in the 2008 general election preached and continues to preach then God help us all,” Daavi Ama, a beans seller at Darkuman in Accra lamented. Some of the respondents were displeased that in the wake of the increase in utility tariffs government has not dropped any hint of increasing the salaries of public and civil servants.

They wondered how this bracket of Ghanaians would cope under what they described as a “draconian measure” by the NDC government. Mr Emmanuel Amofa, a cleaner at a chemical supplier company at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, had this reaction: “My salary is GH¢80 cedis a month with a wife and three children. I live at Ashaiman, and always pay GH¢4 and use GH¢1. I believe you [referring to our reporters] have a clearer picture of my situation; very pathetic isn’t it?

Further Mr Amofa advised government to go round all companies and find out how much workers are paid before coming up with what he said was an “obnoxious policy”.

However, some Ghanaians were of the view that they will not have much problem if by this increment Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) are going to improve upon their services.

“I think we would all be happy if by this new policy both the ECG and GWCL would improve upon their services. This therefore should mean that we should not be having frequent power cuts. And if that should continue then I believe we should have cause to prosecute these two companies,” Mr Robert Quartey, a retailer who sells MTN, Vodafone and Tigo cards at Avenor, submitted.

Some of these Ghanaians are even threatening to beat up the distributers of the utility bills if they are not reduced. “If the government does not reduce the utilities bills, then the distributors would have to suffer the consequences; we are going to fight them and make sure we beat them anytime they come to distribute bills,” they threatened.