STATEMENT READ BY HON. JOHN ABDULAI JINAPOR ON THE RECENT FUEL HIKES UNDER THE AKUFO ADDO/BAWUMIA-LED GOVERNMENT. Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen of the press. We welcome you to this Press Conference by the NDC parliamentary caucus and wish to begin by expressing our gratitude to the media for your continuous support in the professional discharge of your duties. The Minority has followed with keen interest the persistent and rampant increment in fuel prices which appears to be worsening in recent times with no hope in sight. The recent astronomical increases in fuel prices at the pumps and its attendant high cost of living to the ordinary Ghanaian cannot be glossed over. Ladies and gentlemen, it may interest you to know that within a spate of just one year fuel prices have risen from 4.77 cedis per litre to 6.8 cedis per litre representing a whopping 43% increment under this insensitive government. These astronomical increases has resulted in untold hardship which is threatening lives of ordinary Ghanaians. The Minority has equally taken notice of the lame and flimsy excuse from government and its communicators that they cannot do much to cushion Ghanaians because in their own words “they do not control the world market price of crude”. What they have failed to inform Ghanaian is that the devaluation of the cedi is a major contributor to these astronomical increases. We wish to state emphatically that we completely and flatly reject these lame excuses from government; the question we seek an answer to is “since when did the current NPP government led by President Akufo Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia realise that government had no control over world market prices? Ladies and gentlemen, is it not these same people who promised the people of Ghana prior to assuming office that they will abolish the energy sector levies describing them as obnoxious and further promised to move the country from taxation to production? On the contrary, what Ghanaians are witnessing under this government is a complete display of incompetence, arrogance, and deception as far as the Energy sector is concerned. Not only have they retained the so-called obnoxious taxes, they have gone a step further to increase the existing taxes and in some instance introduced new draconian taxes which continues to worsen the living conditions of the already impoverished citizens of this country. Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, it will be recalled that the Akufo-Addo government during the course of the year announced a paltry 4% increase in wages for public sector workers for the 2021 financial year, by comparing this wage increment against the current inflation of about 10.6% (Bank of Ghana), one can only come to the conclusion that the ordinary worker is already worse off and therefore cannot be burdened further with such astronomical increases in fuel prices as this negatively impacts on the cost of living. In short, the income of workers are really not increasing but the steep rise in prices of essential commodities is making it so unbearable for the citizenry to cope under the economy. As a result of bad leadership under Akufo Addo and Bawumia, the level of frustration and discontent are fast spreading among the populace with increasing loss of confidence in the current administration. Members of the press gathered here, despite the announcement of a so-called 100 billion cedis “Obatampa Cares Programme” in the 2021 budget, the ordinary Ghanaian is today faced with unprecedented hardship, suffering and excruciating poverty with no hope in sight. The current state of the Ghanaian economy clearly signals complete despair, characterized by a mounting unsustainable debt level which threatens the very foundation of the economy.  Is this what we were promised prior to the December 2020 elections. Rather than taking the necessary and pragmatic steps towards ameliorating the suffering of the citizenry from their harsh policies, the NPP government has resorted to their usual sloganeering by claiming to suspend the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy for just two months. This is a complete insult to Ghanaians as it demonstrates government’s lack of sincerity and seriousness towards mitigating the suffering of the citizenry. Ladies and gentlemen, a critical look at the price buildup of petroleum products at the pump reveals that taxes, levies and margins alone account for almost 40% of the final ex-pump price. Today Ghanaians and businesses cannot even plan properly due to the unbridled and unpredictable fuel price increments which is fast becoming the order of the day. Ladies and Gentlemen, the attempt by government to blame world market prices of crude for this high fuel cost is untenable. Following the additional increment of the Energy Sector Recovery Levy of 20 Pesewas, and introduction of the Sanitation and Pollution Levy of 10 Pesewas in the 2021 budget as well as increment in margins fuels prices jumped by about 12.48% between the last pricing window of April to the 1st window of May. The almost 13% increment in fuel prices arising from these aforementioned tax handles cannot be attributed to world crude prices. At this juncture let me set the records straight! For the record, Ghana is a net exporter of crude oil and must rather benefit from any price increment at the world market and not the contrary. It is therefore untenable to punish Ghanaians with such an astronomical fuel hikes on the back of world crude price increments. This irony and contradiction cannot be tolerated. Distinguished Members of the press, the minority taking cognisance of the worsening situation and the incompetence being exhibited by this government has taken the pain to proffer some concrete and cogent suggestion as part of our responsibility to ensure that the consumer is cushioned and have some respite, proposes the following: The Special Petroleum Tax imposed on petroleum products must be suspended in the 2022 budget to provide some respite for Ghanaians from the agonizing high cost of fuel at the pump. We make this demand because crude prices which was pegged at a bench-mark price of $54.75