Reduce fuel price immediately – NDC to govt

The opposition National Democratic Congress has said it is appalled by the display of “gross insensitivity by President Akufo-Addo who has consistently flattered to deceive on his promise to reduce fuel prices.”

They have called on the government to immediately reduce fuel prices in the country to ameliorate the financial burden on Ghanaians.

In a statement released and signed by its National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi on Monday, 9 March 2020, the NDC stated that it had “taken notice of the continuous reduction of the price of Brent crude on the international market in the last two months. Specifically, we have noted how the price of Brent crude has declined by over 45 per cent, from an average price of USD63.60 per barrel in January 2020 to USD36 per barrel currently.”

According to the NDC: “The declining prices of crude oil on the international market, coupled with the artificial stability the Ghana cedi appears to be chalking, which is largely due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the injection of the recent USD3 billion Eurobond into the economy, should have led to a significant drop in the pump prices of fuel by now.”

It noted, however, that government “has deliberately refused to pass on the significant reduction in the prices of crude oil on the global market to petroleum consumers in Ghana” and indicated that “within the period that crude oil prices have experienced a significant decline on the international market, consumers have only been given an insignificant and paltry reduction of 28 pesewas at the pump, from GHS 5.62 in January 2020 to the current average price of GHS 5.38.”

It described this as “callous and insulting to the sensibilities of Ghanaians who are going through excruciating hardships as a result of persistent increases in the pump prices of fuel, cumulatively by over 50 per cent in three years, especially given the fact that President Akufo-Addo whilst in opposition criticised the erstwhile Mahama regime for exorbitant fuel prices and promised to reduce same if elected.”

The NDC continued that it is “appalled by this display of gross insensitivity by President Akufo-Addo who has consistently flattered to deceive on his promise to reduce fuel prices and all his flagship campaign promises” and called on government to as a matter of urgency “ensure an immediate and drastic reduction of minimum 20 per cent in the pump prices of fuel.”

The statement added that: “anything short of this should be fiercely rejected by the Ghanaian people” emphasising that it believes the reduction in fuel prices “will reduce the extreme economic hardship in the country and ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians”.