STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS, SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ., AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE PARTY’S HEADQUARTERS ON THE PERSISTENT INCREASE IN FUEL PRICES BY THE AKUFO-ADDO/BAWUMIA-NPP GOVERNMENT. Monday, 18th October, 2021 Good afternoon distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media. It is my singular honour to welcome you on behalf of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to this press conference which is intended to address the high and unbearable cost of living that Ghanaians are experiencing under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Bawumia, which has been largely been occasioned by steep increases in the prices of the Petroleum products over the last four (4) and half years. Permit me to state from the word go, that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-NPP government has shown itself to be callous and does not appear a give a hoot about the plight of Ghanaians. Otherwise, what can be the justification for the rampant and persistent increases in fuel prices we are witnessing in Ghana today. As you may be aware, Ghanaians have once again been slapped with another increase in pump prices of fuel by the insensitive and clueless Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration. Only yesterday, the price of diesel and petrol was increased by 7%. This is the ninth (9th) consecutive time in the year 2021 alone, that the prices of petroleum products have gone up. This has increased the price per gallon of diesel and petrol from about GHc21.00 as at January this year, to about GHc31.00 currently. Ladies and gentlemen of the media, the rampant and persistent increase in the prices of fuel products we have witnessed under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and his deceptive Vice, Dr. Bawumia, are a direct product of their insensitive and bad leadership. The introduction of a raft of new draconian taxes on Petroleum products such as; the introduction of 20 pesewas Energy Sector Levy on every liter of diesel and petrol; the increase of 18 pesewas in ESLA per Kilogram of LPG; the introduction of a 10 pesewas sanitation (“borla”) tax on every liter of diesel and petrol; the introduction of a 1% COVID levy on NHIL & VAT, by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, coupled with the free-fall of the Ghana Cedi which has been occasioned by their gross economic mismanagement, are the major factors responsible for the persistent and steep increase in the prices of fuel products. The introduction of these regressive and draconian taxes by a group of people who berated the erstwhile Mahama regime for “over-taxing” Ghanaians and a group who promised to move Ghana from taxation to production when elected, smacks of deception and insensitivity of monumental proportions. The cascading effect of these draconian tax measures, have among other things, led to an escalation in the prices of fuel products, transport fares, building materials, food products and other commodities on the market, without a commensurate increase in incomes, thereby making cost of living unbearable for the vast majority of Ghanaians. This is the cause of the excruciating economic hardships Ghanaians are currently experiencing. It will be recalled that a gallon of petrol and diesel was sold at about GHc16 in December, 2016 when the NDC/Mahama administration was leaving office. The NPP-led by their then Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo and Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Bawumia, lambasted and berated President Mahama for this and promised to scrap some taxes on Petroleum products, particularly the Energy Sector Levies and the Special Petroleum Tax so as to significantly reduce the prices of fuel. I am sure you would recall how the NPP in their 2016 manifesto described ESLA as a nuisance tax and promised to scrap same when elected. Unfortunately, many Ghanaians, fell for these lies and voted for the NPP. Little did they know that this and other similar sugar-coated promises of the NPP were pure sophistry. Instead of scrapping the ESLA as promised, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-NPP government has collateralized it for a loan which has extended its intended duration from five (5) years to now fifteen (15) years, and increased it by over 20%. As if that was not enough, this government introduced a new Energy Sector Levy of 20 pesewas on every liter of diesel and petrol just this year. Additionally, they have introduced a sanitation (“borla”) tax of 10 pesewas on every liter of petrol and diesel. As a result of this and other increases in existing taxes on fuel such as; the increase of the BOST Margin from 3 pesewas to 9 pesewas per liter representing an increase of 200%; the increase in the Fuel Marking Margin from 3 pesewas to 5 pesewas representing an increase of 67%; and the increase in the Road Fund Levy from 41 pesewas to 46 pesewas, a gallon of petrol and diesel which was sold at about GHc16.00 in December 2016 is today is selling at about GHc31.00. This is almost double the price they berated NDC/Mahama administration for. It is therefore clear from the foregoing facts, that the high increase in the prices of fuel products we have experienced in recent time, is largely as a result of the many draconian taxes and tax increases this government has callously introduced on fuel. That is the major contributing factor. Friends from the media, this astronomical increment in the prices of fuel commodities by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and its concomitant effect on transport fares, have led to steep increases in general prices of goods and services thereby making life unbearable for the vast majority of Ghanaians. A cursory look at the Construction industry, with a focus on the prices of building materials reveals a very worrying trend that is of major concern to many Ghanaians. A 50kg bag of cement that was sold at GHc27.00 in the year 2016, is being sold at GHc52.00 and in some cases above this price today. A tonne of iron rods (16mm) that was sold at about GHc2,800 in 2016 is today going for GHc5,300, while a packet of aluminum