President John Mahama says there is no subsidy on electricity as was announced recently by the power ministry and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
He said the recent electricity adjustment was not a subsidy but rather realignment of the billing system for people to feel some relief in terms of the units they were paying, rubbishing report by his appointees that GH¢300 million had been released to ECG for subsidy.
The ECG announced a revision of utility tariffs in the country, and the introduction of new subsidies to cushion low level consumers of electricity.
Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor, further explained that the new subsidies are in categories and bands and are expected to bring relief to users.
“It is not a subsidy. It is a realignment of the billing system that makes it possible for us to be able to know how much we are spending on electricity,” the president said in an address to Muslims to mark the end of Eid-ul-Fitr at the Independence Square yesterday, raising questions about the so-called power tariff reduction.
Critics, including the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC), and a member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament and MP for Atwima Mponua, Isaac Asiamah, are skeptical about the subsidies and have called for a reduction of levies and taxes on electricity tariffs instead.
The president stated that the recent power outages experienced in the country were not load shedding, popularly called dumsor.
In his view, it was as a result of Ghana’s inability to receive the crude it had imported from Nigeria due to what he described as “sabotage” in that country.
“I crave your indulgence and urge all of you to understand; we are not declaring load sheddin., I believe things will normalize but we are taking steps to ensure that Ghana has security when it comes to power,” he assured.
MP Cries Out
Issac Asiamah described the GH¢300 million six-month subsidy earlier announced by the government on Monday as an act of illegality which falls flat in the face of the Constitution.
He said by requirements of the 1992 Constitution, such an emergency bail-out to Ghanaian consumers – which was not captured in the 2016 budget – should have rather been approved and announced by parliament.
“President Mahama and his NDC government are so desperate to hang on to power that they can now decide to engage in this constitutional illegality which could even worsen their electoral plight since Ghanaians are not fools to be swayed by this last-ditch propaganda,” he said, stressing that President Mahama has already lost the November 7 elections by this desperate move.
This might have pushed the president to make a u-turn by saying that the GH¢300 million is not after all, a bailout.
The Atwima Mponua MP told DAILY GUIDE on the subsidy that it was very clear that President Mahama is visionless and insensitive to the suffering of Ghanaians, having imposed ‘killer’ taxes on electricity; and after Ghanaians had openly and loudly criticized his government for being insensitive to the economic hardships they are going through, it (government) makes this belated decision to come to the aid of Ghanaians with this ‘token’ subsidy without even seeking the consent and approval of parliament.
“If the president had brought the request to parliament for us to endorse and approve, we as representatives of the people who indeed understand the suffering of the people, would have made provision for a bigger bail-out far more than the GH¢300 million so that our people will have longer relief,” the MP pointed out.
He said President Mahama was forced to announce this subsidy because the presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, had been campaigning on the important message of reducing electricity tariffs to help collapsed companies and industries to come back to life and offer employment to many Ghanaians.
“This president is a copycat president who only steals our flagbearer’s ideas and implements them badly. President Mahama stole the policy of Northern Development Fund which is now the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to develop the northern regions, stole the free senior high school policy and is now rushing to offer subsidy on electricity because Nana Akufo-Addo has promised to immediately reduce electricity tariffs when voted as president,” Mr Asiamah stressed.
“Some of us are not at all surprised that the president has decided to offer this subsidy because the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has told him that his chances in the coming elections are fast fading and that he knows that Ghanaians would be voting massively against him no matter how much he induces them with bail-outs or freebies,” he said.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson &Thomas Fosu Jnr