"Increases - Kufuor's goodwill on test"

An “interview with many Ghanaians across the country over the past few days has revealed that president John Agyekum Kufuor has pushed the goodwill and popularity he enjoys to the limit with the recent increases in petroleum products.

A total of 1,200 people were interviewed, the number of people interviewed per region, being proportional to its population. Most of the reasons were what the ordinary Ghanaian said, without technical language or explanation.”

“For those who felt the Kufuor administration had not handled the issue well, they felt that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, had since it assumed office 24 months ago, known about the debt of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the fact that fuel was being sold below the production cost. Why did the government increase the prices in phases? Were they too busy enjoying power without having a vision towards the problems ahead?

“Another was that the government delayed too long in announcing the increases making fuel dump owners reap hundreds of millions of cedis. They had indicated their intention since December last year and the clumsy nature of the approach left a lot to be desired.

The Kufuor administration should have realized that since the past five to six years, anytime fuel price increases were announced without new transport fares, there was tension between drivers and passengers.”

The Kufuor government was also criticised for paying lip service to some of the laudable plans they have on paper – one being the idea of mass transportation. If they had put into practice, a year ago, this idea of mass transportation, the government as one civil servant in Accra said, would not be grappling for the buses to fly over within days.”

“Not withstanding these negative reactions, many appeared to tolerate the increases for a number of reasons. One was that the NDC government had played a game of political expediency with their inability to increase fuel prices. This fact had been drummed home in the various discussions in the media, especially on the local FM stations.”

An “interview with many Ghanaians across the country over the past few days has revealed that president John Agyekum Kufuor has pushed the goodwill and popularity he enjoys to the limit with the recent increases in petroleum products.

A total of 1,200 people were interviewed, the number of people interviewed per region, being proportional to its population. Most of the reasons were what the ordinary Ghanaian said, without technical language or explanation.”

“For those who felt the Kufuor administration had not handled the issue well, they felt that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, had since it assumed office 24 months ago, known about the debt of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the fact that fuel was being sold below the production cost. Why did the government increase the prices in phases? Were they too busy enjoying power without having a vision towards the problems ahead?

“Another was that the government delayed too long in announcing the increases making fuel dump owners reap hundreds of millions of cedis. They had indicated their intention since December last year and the clumsy nature of the approach left a lot to be desired.

The Kufuor administration should have realized that since the past five to six years, anytime fuel price increases were announced without new transport fares, there was tension between drivers and passengers.”

The Kufuor government was also criticised for paying lip service to some of the laudable plans they have on paper – one being the idea of mass transportation. If they had put into practice, a year ago, this idea of mass transportation, the government as one civil servant in Accra said, would not be grappling for the buses to fly over within days.”

“Not withstanding these negative reactions, many appeared to tolerate the increases for a number of reasons. One was that the NDC government had played a game of political expediency with their inability to increase fuel prices. This fact had been drummed home in the various discussions in the media, especially on the local FM stations.”