Minority Leader Slams Mills Govt over fuel prices.

THE MINORITY in Parliament says the recent 30 percent increase in fuel prices by government was a clear case of betrayal of faith and trust, stressing that the people of Ghana have been fooled and hoodwinked by Professor Atta Mills and his party into giving them the mandate to rule.

Addressing a news conference in Parliament yesterday, the Minority stated that the increase in fuel prices was not only a far cry from the paradise promised by Candidate Mills, but a pathetic and grievous insult to Ghanaians who had been grossly deceived by the ‘politricks’ of the President.

“We are aware of the song which has started making waves: ‘Atta adaadaa yen agye gye yen akoku yen’ (meaning Atta has deceived us, lured us and killed us). We call on Ghanaians to gird their loins and be resolute and begin counting the broken promises and the betrayal of trust by the so-called man of integrity who rode on the crest of relieving the hardships that had been allegedly inflicted on Ghanaians by the NPP”, Minority taunted Mills, adding, “If Professor Mills is to be trusted, Ghanaians are the better judges.”

According to the Minority, President Mills after deceiving Ghanaians to win power, was gradually shelving his “I Care for You” mantra and beginning to tell the people to face the realities of the time with respect to the fuel prices.“Instead of putting money into the pockets of Ghanaians as Candidate Mills promised in his electioneering campaign, we now have a situation where what we have in our pockets which Candidate Mills described as ‘little’ is being taken out,” the Minority observed.

It would be recalled that then Candidate Mills on December 12, 2008, in response to the announcement of a reduction in fuel prices by the Kufuor Administration, stated that “under Atta Mills government, I will reduce drastically, the prices of petroleum products”, accusing the former regime of being insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians.

However, in a statement read by former Minister of Energy Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minority observed that having raised the expectations of Ghanaians that they would be experiencing relief in the cost of living through sensitive and humane reduction in petroleum prices, President Mills and his administration had rather consistently increased fuel prices by 36 percent in just five months.

“Ghanaians have overnight realized that they have been hoodwinked. No wonder the market women these days are on ‘Mills telephone’ (making sakawa calls) and dancing the ‘pusese’ (going backward dance),” Minority taunted.According to the Minority group, there had not been a breakdown in the fuel increases, demanding that the Minister of Energy immediately comes to Parliament to inform the good people of Ghana about the breakdown in the petroleum prices.Hon. Kofi Adda, the Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central, pointed out that under the NPP when the world price of crude was $147 per barrel, a gallon of petrol at the height of price volatility was GH¢5.8

“Today, a gallon of petrol sells at GH¢5.1 when crude prices are $65 - $67 per barrel. And this is from Prof. Mills who used to say ‘I care for you”, Hon. Kofi Adda stated with strong support from Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Ambrose Derry, Minority Leader and his Deputy respectively; and other members of the minority including former ministers of state.

The former Energy Minister said to “add more insult to injury and more hurt to Ghanaians, you have NDC government propagandists and apologists, from ministers of state to serial callers, telling Ghanaians that the 30% increase is the fault of the NPP”.

By Awudu Mahama