Hike in fuel prices is “full cost robbery” – CPP

The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has condemned the increment in prices of petroleum products in Ghana.

According to a statement from the party’s Communications Director, Nii Armah Akomfrah, the hike in prices will have adverse effect on Ghanaians.

It said: “The Ghanaian consumer instead of benefitting from a continuing fall in petrol prices going forward which should also impact on PURC utility rises as Crude Oil price is also a determinant factor of utility price rises, we are seeing a continuing escalation.

“Ghana has now seemingly moved from “Full Cost Recovery” to “Full Cost Robbery”. The situation is not acceptable to the CPP or the people of Ghana.”

Below is the full statement:

As Petroleum Prices rise again with attendant effects on transportation costs, food costs leading ultimately to higher inflation and a rise in the cost of living for every Ghanaian. The Convention People’s Party (CPP) asks whether the Government is assessing the effects of its policies on the people of Ghana.

In the last year the people of this country have seen massive price hikes on Electricity – a near 40% increase; on Water – a 20% increase; and Petrol a 50% increase.

The fuel sector has seen prices tumbled dramatically.

In June global oil price stood at $115/barrel, today it stands at 50% of that and expected to average at $55/barrel for the rest of the year, so what is the reason why the nation is still seeing this intolerable increases other than what the CPP calls a “ Mismanagement Tax” on the people of Ghana. A sign also of gross insensitivity to the people’s plight.

Many Ghanaians also know that far from improving services or even a maintained service, utility service performance has declined drastically with many days of no electricity and no water still the norm. Our “Dumsor problem” is now a World phenomenon reported on by the world media.

The Ghanaian consumer instead of benefitting from a continuing fall in petrol prices going forward which should also impact on PURC utility rises as Crude Oil price is also a determinant factor of utility price rises, we are seeing a continuing escalation.

Ghana has now seemingly moved from “Full Cost Recovery” to “Full Cost Robbery”.

The situation is not acceptable to the CPP or the people of Ghana.

We believe Government going beyond full cost recovery and placing this greater burden on an already impoverished population is testament of its failure to manage Ghana’s vast economic wealth to the benefit of its citizens.

Perhaps as the CPP had warned, this is the IMF chickens coming home to roost and our right to self - determination has been lost to their dictates on our development policy decisions - a demand that we reduce the purchasing power of the people with an increase in ex pump fuel prices and cost of public utilities and in addition reduce labour income so that we can pay their debts. Thus the government of Ghana fleeces its citizens so that the IMF can prosper.

Whereas the CPP has a development concept for delivering prosperity the NDC Government’s policy prescriptions are only delivering poverty.

Their only agenda now is hardship and further hardship on Ghanaians.

It is time for a return to CPP Government and we urge our fellow citizens to embrace the CPP as the only alternative to bringing our country back on a path of prosperity.

Our choice is a rejection of this government and others that believe in this path of poverty and misery and a commitment to the CPP that is ready to take up our development vision and responsibility to fulfill the prosperity aspirations of our people and country.

The CPP’s development policy of decolonization is founded on our history of slavery and colonialism and enjoins us to reverse the colonial relation that used up our resources to support the development of our colonial masters to our detriment and poverty.

The CPP’s path demands that we support our cooperative farmers in agricultural food and raw material primary production, to till and plough our land to plant the corn and sugar cane that we need; till our land to plant the corn that we need to feed our people and the cotton that we need to feed our manufacturing sector to promote our industrialization and clothe our people; that we dig up our clay to develop our brick and tile industry to provide decent houses for our people; that we should no longer toil to pay off hefty debts and high interest charges to those whose development policy recommendation keep us in perpetual debt and poverty;

A CPP government will not accumulate debt in import consumption.