The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has indicated that it will engage the Finance Minister to reverse a decision to increase some components in the petroleum price buildup.
The group, however warned that it will picket at the Finance Ministry if all attempts aimed at getting the government to overturn the decision fails.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on July 29, 2019 announced some increases in the Road Levy, the Energy Debt Recovery levy as well as the Price Stabilization levy.
The increases are aimed at helping government clear the legacy debt in the energy sector to prevent intermittent power outages known as ‘Dumsor’
But Speaking to Citi Business News shortly after the Finance Minister presented the Mid-Year Budget in parliament, the Executive Secretary of COPEC Duncan Amoah stated that it will encourage Ghanaians to picket at the Finance Ministry if the increases are not reversed.
He maintained that COPEC will initially use dialogue to urge the Finance Minister to change the decision “after which if it fails we will go and sleep at the Ministry”
“If the government and the Finance Minister couldn’t do anything the least we expected was for him to go an increase fuel prices by increases taxes. We will go and sleep there at the Finance Ministry. We will not go on a match and go home,” he stressed.
Mr. Amoah argued that the timing is bad for government to increase fuel prices since Ghanaians are already going through hardship.
“This is a lazy approach of getting money. They know about 10.5 million litres of fuel is consumed everyday so they just come and say lets charge 5 pesewas for example and multiple it by 10.5 million litres to see how much they will get,” he argued.
