You are here: HomeOpinionsArticles2021 03 20Article 1210363

Opinions of Saturday, 20 March 2021

Columnist: Joel Savage

Ghanaians, free water and electricity don’t exist in any country

Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Water and electricity are two important elements of life. They are so important that humans need them daily to maintain life and health, yet no developed country in this world provides them for free, let alone Ghana, a developing country.

As Ghanaians, everyone has the right to give his or her opinion on issues not going right in our country, yet certain grievances and complaints are meaningless.

In April 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced free water and electricity usage in Ghana to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The government said further that they would be responsible for the water and electricity bills in the months of April and May for all Ghanaians. Not carefully, the President didn’t say free water and electricity forever.

Therefore, I find it very ridiculous that some Ghanaians are making problems out of this. How can the economy of Ghana survive if there are no payments for water and electricity in the country?

Shortly after the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview declared that Ghanaians have to pay for the provision of free water and electricity as measures to recover the debt incurred during the prevention of the spread of the disease in the country, many Ghanaians are angry and bitter about this decision.

According to the Information Minister, the 1% COVID-19 health levy will be used in paying the cost incurred for the free water and electricity package. This is understandable. If the Ghana government has to provide electricity and water free of charge, where would there be money for developments?

Ghanaians have the right to criticize the NPP or the NDC when things are not going right in the country but not to be angry over the taxation on water and electricity.

Even though it is likely that the COVID 19 relief fund has been mismanaged, yet still that can’t give way to the usage of water and electricity without a cost.