Sammy Gyamfi, who recounted some of the promises the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) gave Ghanaians before assuming office in 2017, observed that the Akufo-Addo government has taken Ghanaians for a ride.
Gyamfi made these remarks on Dwaboase on TV XYZ after a liter of diesel hit the 7 cedis mark while petrol at most pumps was sold at 6.99 cedis on Sunday.
The prices of petroleum products have been increasing steadily in the past 6 months a situation that forced commercial drivers to park their cars in protest in December last year.
Chastising the government over unfulfilled promises, Gyamfi, the chief spokesperson for the largest opposition party pointed out some “unnecessary taxes” on the fuel price build-up.
He also observed that the inability of the government to stabilize the cedi for the past years was partly to be blamed for the increment in fuel prices, saying Dr. Bawumia has not lived up to the task.
“Dr. Bawumia insulted John Mahama that he was incompetent and promised to stabilize the dollar when they are voted to power. He even came to brag that he had arrested the dollar and handed the keys to IGP but today the dollar is 6.7 cedis,” Gyamfi told host Prince Minkah as he argued that the government was insensitive to the plights 9f Ghanaians.
“He [Bawumia] is the chairman of the economic management team and he should be blamed for the fuel price hikes because if the cedi is not stabilized and the price of crude goes up on the international market, prices will go up here,” he added.
Sammy Gyamfi further kicked against some taxes on the price of petroleum products in the country such as the special petroleum tax and the sanitation levy.
“There is a tax on the price of fuel known as Price stabilization levy. That gives government revenue to be used to stabilize the price of fuel when the price goes up,” he said.
“This tax gives the government a minimum of 1.4billion cedis. In the 5 years that the Akufo-Addo government has been in power, the government would have accrued over 5 billion cedis in revenue to cushion the people whenever the exchange rate goes up but they haven’t done so while Ghanaians are struggling to buy fuel.
“This is pure insensitivity and a disregard to the plights of Ghanaians,” he jabbed.
Meanwhile, various driver unions have threatened to pass on the pressure to passengers in the coming days.
The concerned Drivers Union for instance will increase lorry fare within the week irrespective of calls by some government officials to suspend it. Read Full Story
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