TUC Calls On Gov’t To Cut Down Fuel Prices

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on Government to cut down fuel prices for Ghanaians as they current price of fuel has become a burden on the citizens.

In a statement released yesterday, the TUC has urged the government to scrap some taxes on fuel and put measures in place to stabilize the falling cedi in order to bring down the cost of fuel in the country.

Fuel price has shot up above GHS5 per litre mark, causing a lot of public uproars, especially among commercial drivers. There has been public outcry for Government to do something about the situation with a lot of people stating that they are going through economic hardships.

The TUC has in the statement additionally criticized the Energy Minister John Peter Amewu for saying fuel prices would have been worse if the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) were in power. They say the NDC is no longer in power so it is not important to bring them into the current crisis and increment of fuel prices. They have emphasized that the NPP is in power so they should rather work towards cutting down prices of fuel.

Below is the content of the TUC statement;
“The TUC urges the government to scrap some of the taxes on fuel prices to cushion Ghanaians. Also, the government must look into the various margins and their impact on fuel pricing. At current levels, fuel prices have reached an unsustainable peak for Ghanaian workers and their families. As workers, we can longer afford any further increase. The government must do everything it can to halt further increases.”

“In its manifesto for election 2016, the NPP had promised Ghanaians a reduction in fuel prices. This was to be achieved through abolishing of some of the taxes in the petroleum price build-up and a competent management of the economy such that exchange rate losses will not translate into higher fuel prices.

“After more than 18 months in government, fuel prices have gone up by an average of more than 25 per cent. Between January 2017 and now, fuel prices have been adjusted upwards on 16 different occasions. This was not what Ghanaians were promised. In this same period, the minimum wage has gone up by 20 per cent.

“The base pay on the Single Spine Salary Structure, from which most public sector workers are paid, has also increased by about 24 per cent. Given that fuel increases tend to have very noisy rippling effect on general price levels, the frequent upward adjustments as experienced in the last few months have considerably eroded incomes and worsened the plight of Ghanaian workers and their families.”

“It is important for government and its functionaries to understand that dealing with matters as important as fuel prices, we eschew conjectures. The reality is that the Mahama-led administration is no longer in power. The [Akufo-Addo-led] administration is in power. And despite the interventions the minister talked about, fuel prices are rising and Ghanaians are unhappy about it. We require leadership and solutions on how to bring down the prices and not sermon on what would have happened if Mahama-led administration were to be in office”.