The Member of Parliament for Suaman Constituency, Fredrick Addy, has reacted to the government’s decision to impose one cedi on all petroleum products in its newly-amended Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), also termed as D-Levy.

According to him, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed office, they fulfilled their promise of removing several taxes introduced by the previous administration, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), delivering on a key campaign promise.

He made this assertion on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, when he was expressing his opinion on the newly amended ‘Dumsor-levy’.

“The NDC promised Ghanaians to eliminate all the taxes the NPP imposed on them and truly, when they came into power, they have really tried their best to scrap almost all of these taxes which E-Levy is one of them,” he said.

He, however, stated that, ironically, the NDC, who previously slammed the NPP’s taxes, have introduced a new tax.

In his view, this D-Levy is even more costly compared to the old taxes the NPPs introduced during their tenure in office.

“The surprising thing is that, the NDC, who spoke ill against the various levies the NPP introduced, have also come out with a D-Levy which is much more expensive when compared to that of the NPP’s old levies,” he explained.

Addy criticised the incumbent finance minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, for not being able to stick to his promises of assuring Ghanaians that, taxes will be “a thing of the past” , like he said during his ministerial vetting.

“The finance minister, during his vetting, guaranteed that, Ghana’s economic independence can be achieved without imposing certain levies, pledging that it will be a thing of the past, but now, he has failed us,” he fumed.

He expressed concerns that the increment on the fuel levy will significantly burden farmers, especially those in his constituency, who rely on fuel for their operations.

“Imagine if the fuel is 50cedis, you pay additional 5cedis as a contribution to fight power crisis. Meanwhile, when the Electronic Levy (E-Levy) was effective under the past administration of NPP, making a mobile money transaction of 100cedis attracted just a levy of one cedi; but now, buying fuel for 100cedis attracts a D-Levy of 10cedis. The E-Levy Ghanaians once complained about and this current Levy initiated by the NDC, which one is better?” he queried.

“This new levy has severely impacted my constituency, especially the poor farmers, draining their limited financial resources,” he added.

He urged the NDC to rethink their stance on levies and be more realistic, particularly considering the impact of such on the finances of the less-privileged.

AM/VPO

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