A former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s largest state power generation company Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby has criticised the Akufo-Addo led administration for proposing new taxes on petrol and diesel.
According to him, there is no justification for the introduction of Sanitation and Pollution taxes on petroleum products.
He said the sector has become an easy avenue for the government to rake in money through new levies and taxes hence the many tax components for fuel purchased.
Speaking on Citi FM, based in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the former VRA boss noted that since the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor, several taxes have been slapped on the petroleum sector, leading to the high cost of fuel with consumers continually bearing the cost.
“It is totally unjustified… There is no justification, it [petroleum products] just happens to be a low-hanging fruit that you can just slap anything on,” he said.
He suggested that some special taxes introduced for specific purposes should be scrapped to offer petroleum customers some relief rather than the introduction of new taxes.
“20 years ago, President Kufuor introduced what he called the Refinery Recovery levy. That was supposed to last for four years but 20 years on, it is still here, now as the energy sector recovery levy. In 2015, oil prices collapsed and Mahama government instead of reducing prices according to the formula said our revenues are down because the datum prices of oil have gone down, so we need to plough back revenue, so there was a 2-year special petroleum levy. I think 8 years on, it is still on. I will suggest that if these two temporary taxes which were meant to address specific issues were removed, that alone will reduce taxes,” he said.
Dr. Wereko-Brobby said, “the idea that sanitation taxes should be put on petroleum doesn’t make sense. I think government has been dishonest with the people of Ghana and not just see petroleum as the big cow for ripping off people.”
He expressed concern that any further increase in the price of petroleum products could lead to other aspects of the economy being affected negatively.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
