-As Akufo Addo Takes Ghanaians to the Guillotine
After the slurry of cut-throat taxes imposed on Ghanaians by the Akufo Addo administration, the misery of the populace is set to worsen as the country is set for a potential 500% increase in prices of goods and services.
This is because the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) wants tariffs to be increased by 148%; transport operators have increased fares by 20% and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is proposing to increase tariffs by 334% to make it a “world-class utility service”.
Together, the price increases of the fundamental utilities in the country will amount to a staggering 502%. These are services that directly impact the prices of goods and services any time a price hike hits them.
Due to extremely poor infrastructure in the country and an absence of alternatives, businesses would have no choice but to pass on the extra cost to consumers as they have always done.
Already, the Ghanaian populace is reeling from a bouquet of taxes slapped on them by the government, including the recent obnoxious electronic levy (e-levy) that was dubiously passed in Parliament and is being shepherded by a judiciary fingered for its extreme partisan biases.
Barely two months ago, transport operators had increased fares by some 15%, citing increases in petroleum prices because the government has refused to reduce the huge taxes infused into petroleum price build-up.
It is unclear how citizens will take this extra impoverishment that would be unleashed by the new price hikes. Already, disillusioned citizens are smarting with anger over the sharply rising cost of living in the country.