In light of the revelation that, contrary to the announced 59.2 percent electricity tariff increase announced by the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), Ghanaians are paying 75 percent more, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned Gov’t not to show bad faith in the negotiations.
According to the TUC, ongoing discussions with the Employment and Labour Relations Ministry had been based on knowledge of the initial increase announced by the PURC and not the actual rate, a factor which the government did not reveal to them.
“If you go and buy pre-paid, there’s about 75% increase. Our engagements have been on the 59%, not knowing that some more had been smuggled down to increase it to the level it’s at now. There is a limit to what we can contain. It is important that people don’t take us for a ride,” the Secretary General of the TUC, Kofi Asamoah stated.
A nationwide protest by members of Organised Labour on Wednesday highlighted the frustration of Ghanaians towards the recent tariff increases.
Thousands of workers poured onto the streets across the country to register their displeasure over what they claim are exorbitant increases in the various taxes and tariffs.
According to Kofi Asamoah, the current tax regime was unacceptable and could be detrimental to Ghana’s economic future.
We appreciate and know that if this thing doesn’t stop, the IMF will continue to bite us until we are dead. If you want to tax, don’t tax people to death. You don’t tax poor Ghanaians”
However the hikes are not the only things ailing Ghanaians as complaints about the rate of power consumption of the ECG prepaid meters have begun to intensify.
The session prompted a response from the Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor who revealed that the situation was being rectified, with most affected consumers receiving some compensation.
He noted that noted that “from the information they [ECG] gave me, they have a prepayment meter customer base of 531,014. Out of that they have credited back about 333,902 so they are in the process of rectifying that.”
By: Edwin Kwakofi
