The National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi is calling on the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-NPP government to as a matter of urgency scrap the Special Petroleum Tax (SPT).
According to Sammy Gyamfi, it is untenable for the government to do so.
Addressing Journalists on Monday, he said "Scrap the Special Petroleum Tax (SPT) of 46 pesewas on a liter of diesel and petrol. It will be recalled that the SPT was introduced by the erstwhile NDC/Mahama administration sometime in 2016 when crude oil export price fell far below the government’s budgetary projections. The objective was to shore up the government’s revenue for development purposes.
"But given the fact that crude oil export price has increased from below $40 to above $80 per barrel currently, far above the government’s budgetary projection of $54.75 per barrel, it is untenable for government to still maintain the SPT on the price of petroleum products now, and same should be scrapped immediately. This is particularly so, when government’s revenue from the oil sector for the second quarter of this year 2021, went up by almost 60%, equivalent to US$89.1 million, as compared to oil revenue for the same period in the previous year"
Mr. Gyamfi also tasked the Akufo-Addo administration to also scrap the newly introduced taxes on fuel products such as the Energy Sector Levies of 20 pesewas on a liter of diesel and petrol.
Touching on the new sanitation levy (“Borla” tax) of 10 pesewas on a liter of diesel and petrol, the NDC's National Communication Officer described the action by the NPP government as totally needless and useless.
The NDC, however, says it is challenging the government to ensure that the new increase of 18 pesewas on a kilogram of LPG to also be scrapped.
"And finally, we wish to call on the government to consider the review of other existing taxes on fuel products in line with proposals submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Energy by the Chamber Of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) and other stakeholders in the downstream petroleum sector"
Sammy Gyamfi stressed that the demands are not borne out of cheap politics or partisanship.
"We wish to remind President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia to respect and uphold the sanctity of their political pact with the Ghanaian electorate. The Ghanaian people did not bargain for this level of a tax burden on the prices of petroleum products in the 2020 December 7 Polls. Governance at all times must be about the advancement of the collective good and not the narrow interest of a select few. This government has become too removed from the stark realities of the Ghanaian people and it is about time they got back on track"
The NDC hinted that should government heed their advice, the prices of diesel and petrol will reduce drastically.
"This will stabilize the ever-rising prices of general goods and services and go a long way to ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians. But should government fail to heed our wise counsel as they always do, prices of general goods and services will continue to soar, hardships in the country will continue to worsen to gargantuan levels and all of us, irrespective of our political affiliations, except the few privileged ones in government, will continue to suffer."
"As you do know, the last quarter of the year usually presents an opportunity for many to turn around their economic fortunes as we prepare for the yuletide. However, given the persistent increases in fuel prices we are witnessing and the ever-skyrocketing prices of goods on the market, it looks like we are heading for the worst Christmas ever for the Ghanaian people"
The NDC says it will allow the hardships the populace is experiencing to continue adding that it demands that things are changed for the better
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Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith