Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has urged the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government to be sensitive to the plight of Ghanaians as fuel prices continue to increase.
“If you look at the current petroleum price build-up, something can be done and it will result in significant decreases,” he said.
According to him, the frequent rise in petroleum prices shouldn’t happen at this time when the world is facing an economic crisis and governments around the world are looking at ways to support their citizens by bearing some of the burdens caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have known for all these years and traditionally that the levies, taxes and margins must at all times reflect the economic conditions and concrete reality of our people,” he said.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the government has to show empathy and sensitivity to the impact of petroleum prices in the country.
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The North Tongu legislator stated that currently, there are three levies that government should not have added to petroleum price buildup.
“We have even discovered that in the price build-up, there are three levies that have been smuggled in there,” he said, although he would not state the said taxes.
He described the current economic situation as harsh and cautioned the government against underestimating the current hardship in the country.
“Times are really hard and this is not the time to be engaged in this [adding illegal levies to the petroleum prices],” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said.
He also said that government has the ability to intervene and reduce the cost of petroleum prices in the country through deregulation.
“We all know that the deregulation is still subject to the intervention of the government in power and the government in power has the ability to intervene and reduce the eventual cost of petroleum,” he stressed.
He made these comments on Friday, November 5, 2021.