Opposition Parties Condemn Fuel Increment

Opposition Parties Condemn Fuel Increment

Some opposition parties in the country have condemned the consistent increment of fuel prices. In compliance with the automatic adjustment formula, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has upwardly revised petroleum prices which took effect on March 1. Owing to the increment, the price of petrol has been increased by 6.2 percent. It is against this backdrop, the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) in an interview with Citi News collectively condemned the upward adjustment in fuel prices. The PNC’s policy analyst, Atik Mohammed, was certain that the increment will deepen the economic hardship Ghanaians are already grappling with. “In the midst of all these hardships, the government still has the courage to continue to increase the burden of Ghanaians by way of increasing fuel and for me, they should not think that it is happening only to people in opposition, these increases are affecting businesses and they are affecting individuals.” He claimed government was running the country like a secret society because “any time the increment is going to be done, it is done secretly; this government is now being run like a secret society, nobody just know what government is doing especially in respect of the increases in fuel prices.” The PPP’s General Secretary, Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, described the fuel price increment as government’s insensitivity to the plight of the suffering masses. “I think that Ghanaians cannot be at the receiving end of the hardships and mismanagement of the economy for which reason our cedi has fallen and, therefore, we have to be called upon to pay more for fuel prices, I think that it is not fair.” He admonished government to stop what he termed the propaganda gimmicks and fix the economy. “The earlier we fix this serious economic hardships and mismanagement, and make sure that we have a stable currency, the better it will be for all of us. I think that slogans such as the economy is resilient are exposed when we have continuous increases in fuel prices when the world market price of fuel has not changed.” The NDP’s Deputy national communications director, Ernest Owusu Bempah, described the fuel prices increment as a mark of bad leadership. “I think is so hard and disheartening looking at the economic condition of ordinary Ghanaians where taxes have been raised, and the economy is in jeopardy and now subsequent increases in fuel prices tell you that President Mahama does not care about the ordinary Ghanaian which is a mark of bad leadership.”

Source: citifmonline.com