The UK and Ireland branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has challenged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to come out and tell Ghanaians whether petroleum prices are set to rise again.
"If what we are hearing from reliable sources at the the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and the Ministry of Finance are true then it means we should brace ourselves for another price increase. It is appalling that the government led by Professor Mills would seek to inflict more hardship on the people, coming so soon after the shocking 89% increases in the price of Water and electricity," the NPP has stated.
In a statement signed by Nana Yaw Sarpong, the Communications Officer of the NPP for UK and Ireland, they remined President Professor Mills that he told Ghanaians at a rally at Amanase in the Ayensuano constituency in the Eastern Region in November, 2008 that "The government must listen to the genuine complaints of the people and implement policies to reduce their suffering. When petroleum prices fell, the price in the country was not adjusted to correspond to the market price, making life unbearable for citizens."
They also reminded Professor Mills of assuring Ghanians in the NDC Manifesto under their Fiscal Policy statement (line 3) that 'As a party of modern Social Democrats, the New NDC government will not introduce any new taxes'.
The NPP said that there are so many questions to ask about the NDC's commitment to government and whether they are really serious on delivering real solutions for Ghanaians.
"We have constructively suggested to the President to take a critical look at some members of his government, saboteurs and thieves at the ports and harbours, the Energy Commission, the GNPC but to no avail. It is clear the President's inaction actually allows for failure and rampant corruption," the NPP said.
Mr. Yaw Sarpong said that farmers are unhappy about the producer prices of cocoa thus cocoa smuggling have increased by 25% across our western borders.
"Our fishermen despite limited interventions are unhappy about the high cost and the increase in the number of fishing trawler licences given to foreign fishing companies. Our nurses have seen their salaries decrease in real terms by 20%. Our workers and students are complaining about the daily increases in transport fares and road tolls, Our youth still have no jobs-youth unemployment is now is now so critical that most of our able bodied men and women have now resorted to illegal gambling and selling their bodies at nightclubs, hotels, beaches and on the street to make ends meet increasing the risk in HIV AIDS," Mr. Yaw Saepong wrote.
He stated that recently the GPRTU as well as members of the Association of Ghana Industries accused the government of insensitivity due to the 50% increase in import tariffs on spare parts which are needed to support light manufacturing and our transport services, nobody in government has even responded to their concerns.
"Our contractors and their firms are going bust and sinking deep into debt ,Our blocking making factories are silent due to the hight cost of cement and decent families are struggling to pay their children's school fees and The rubbish in our cites especially in parts of Accra- Adenta, Dansoman, Legon, Nima Haasto remain uncollected
Professor Mills and his Ministers must stop the chaos, the diversionary tactics, power struggles, the propaganda and anniversaries and come out with solutions to the problems they have created by the poor decision making and lack of policies. Time and again we have argued for a clear vision and direction for our country. We must re-ignite our creative spirit, restore our environment which was once the envy of neighbouring countries, build decent trade relations with our neighbours instead of snubbing their goodwill, restore shattered confidence in our businesses so they can employ and work towards building a secure environment for our people," the NPP concluded.
