NDC In GH¢900m Fuel Fraud

Four days after an Accra High had declared as illegal, the ex-refinery differential component of the ex-pump prices of petroleum products and ordered immediate stop to its imposition, the ruling National Democratic Congress government remains adamant in its resolve to continue perpetrating the fraud on consumers.

Conservative calculations done by the New Statesman put the fraud perpetrated on consumers since the imposition of the illegal charge on June 5, 2009 at over GH¢900 million.

A total of GH¢499,084,607.14 was made from the imposition of these illegal margins on the price build up of petroleum products at the end of October 2010, according to figures available on the website of the NPA. The illegal charge from November 2010 to date could yield an estimated amount of GHC401 million.

So far, the National Petroleum Authority has not filed for a stay of execution of the court order but has only indicated its desire to appeal against the court’s decision.

According to the court, the illegal margins imposed on June 5, 2009 were as follows: Diesel, 95GHp per gallon; Petrol, 29 GHp per gallon; Kerosene, 42 GHp per gallon; LPG, 8GHp per Kilogram; MGO local, 69 GHp per gallon.

Ghanaians now pay GH¢6.84 instead of GH¢6.55 for a gallon of premium; GH¢6.91 instead of GH¢5.96 for diesel; GH¢3.68 for a gallon of kerosene; and GH¢5.49instead of GH¢4.8 for MGO local.

According to reports, money accrued from the imposition of these illegal margins has been lodged in what has been described as “secret accounts” which have not been audited thus far.

Figures available at the website of the NPA indicate that the Mills-Mahama NDC administration made more than GH¢499,084,607.14 between June 2009 to October 2010 alone through the imposition of the illegal margins smuggled into the price build-up of petroleum products.

This implies the estimates of GH¢690 million made by Development Data as being the money accrued by the NPA through the imposition of the illegal margins on the price build up of petroleum products from June 5, 2009 to November 28, 2011 may have been modest.

According to figures contained in “Detailed statistics of petrol consumption (1999-2010)” produced by the National Petroleum Authority, and available on its website, Ghanaians between June 2009 and December 2010 consumed 1,376,640,926 litres of premium; 304,798,513 kilograms of LPG; 1,769,951,633 litres of Diesel; and 132,079,399 litres of Kerosene.

With the current prices Ghanaians are paying for petroleum products, government made GH¢2,093,457,856.17 from the sale of premium; GH¢319,306,922.22 from LPG; GH¢2,716,167,776 from Diesel; and GH¢120,192,253.09 from Kerosene from June 2009 to October 2010.

The actual amount government should have accrued from the sale of petroleum products, using the correct figure are as follows: GH¢2,004,740,996.49 from the sale of premium; GH¢294,923,041.18 from LPG; GH¢2,342,511,320.15 from Diesel; and GH¢ 107,864,842.52 from Kerosene from June 2009 to October 2010.