Group to go on ‘reduce fuel price now’ demo

Pressure group Movement for Change (MFC) is starting a campaign to force the Government to reduce the price of fuel.

In a statement issued Wednesday and signed by its Chairman Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, the group said it will embark on a series of demonstration to push the Mahama administration to reduce the price of fuel.

“At a time when world crude prices have fallen by historic margins, it still mind boggling that the NDC government has remained adamant and insensitive to the many calls for the drastic reduction in prices of petroleum products.”

“The Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Ghana Real Estates Development Association (GREDA), Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), political parties, civil society organisations, as well as ordinary Ghanaians have called for a drastic reduction of fuel prices in consonance with the Automatic Price Adjustment Formula. They have asked government to, as a matter of urgency reduce fuel prices, since it is an alternative source of power generation for them,” MFC said.

Below is the rest of the statement:

According to all of these groups, the constant power cuts and erratic supply of power (dumsor dumsor) in the country is putting undue pressure on businesses. Most businesses and organizations, as a result, are now using generators to power their factories and equipment because of “dumsor dumsor”.

The bitter and unfortunate truth is that, the average Ghanaian is still reeling under severe economic hardship due to the gross mismanagement of the economy and reckless dissipation of our scarce resources.

Government’s excuse of being indebted to the Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) can no longer hold because the so-called debt, according to government, has been settled.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Moses Asaga, stated categorically, in an interview granted to Victor Kwawukume of Daily Graphic on 25thFebruary 2015, that the authority has settled the GH¢412 million debt it owed the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).The settlement, he confirmed, was made possible by “windfall” the authority got from over-recoveries when the prices of petroleum products dropped on the world market.

Why is the Mahama government, therefore, been unreasonably insensitive?

We are all witnesses to how “dumsor dumsor” continues to kill private businesses all over the country. Businesses can no longer remain afloat due to high operational costs incurred solely through the purchase of fuel for the running of generator sets on daily basis.

In these dire times of high rates of unemployment and the rising cost of living, there can be no room to countenance the crippling of businesses because of the Mahama government’s refusal to drastically reduce fuel prices to appreciably cushion the private sector against this chronic energy crisis, which has persisted for well over three and half years.

It is therefore highly unconscionable and unreasonable for government to remain unconcerned regarding the calls for a reduction of petroleum prices, while the citizenry is engulfed in unprecedented hardship especially now that the so-called debt to BDCs have been defrayed.

We demand that government Reduces Fuel Prices NOW to conform to the continuous fall in crude oil prices on the international market.

Movement for Change as a public interest group is not only adding its voice to the numerous calls from all Ghanaians but will be embarking on a nationwide campaign and demonstrations dubbed 'REDUCE FUEL PRICES NOW' if President Mahama and his NDC government continue to treat Ghanaians with contempt.

We call on all Ghanaians to rise up and demand that the right thing should be done.