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A 30% hike in the prices of fuel announced by the government, which had championed demands for lower prices while in opposition, dominated the media during the week.

The government fulfilled its pledge to remove some taxes in the build-up of the prices of petroleum prices in its budget statement to Parliament last March. It has therefore defended the increases saying they were absolutely necessary and were not meant to hurt the people.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), as expected, capitalised on the price hikes and asked the Minister of Energy to appear before Parliament to justify the increases.

“Minority raises concern about hike in fuel prices” was the headline of the state-owned Graphic on the subject.

It said the minority in Parliament had raised concern about the 30% increase in fuel prices and demanded an immediate explanation about the details of the build – up that led to the increase.

“We demand of the minister of Energy to immediately come to Parliament to inform the good people of Ghana about the build-up in the petroleum prices,” they said.

A pro-opposition pressure group, which was formed in January after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under President John Evans Atta Mills, was swept to power, demanded even more drastic action.

“Increase salaries to reflect fuel prices,” demanded the Alliance for Accountable Governance.

It called for the immediate increase in wages and salaries of workers to reflect the fuel price hikes, which, it said, had led to high prices of goods and services.

The group said the government had failed to live up to its promise to solve the economic hardships of Ghanaians, adding that the government had no justification to increase the fuel prices since it bought oil at a negotiated price and not at the world market.

The Graphic quoted President Mills as defending the government’s action.

“President defends fuel prices; Past government’s colossal debt caused it all,” was the headline of a story by the Graphic quoting President Mills.

It said President Mills on Wednesday made his first public defence of the hikes in fuel prices attributing it to the colossal debt inherited by his government from the immediate past president, John Agyekum Kufuor.

President Mills, however, expressed strong optimism about fixing the ailing economy to improve the wellbeing of the majority of the people.

He said the fuel price hikes were not meant to cause pain and despondency among the people of Ghana but had been necessitated by the debts left behind by the Kufuor administration and global oil prices.

Meanwhile, the state-owned Ghanaian Times quoted Information Minister Zita Okaikoi as saying in its story with the headline “30% cut in government fuel” that government has directed a 30% cut in the fuel consumption by government ministries, department and agencies as part of measures to reduce fuel costs.

In addition, she said, all government vehicles were to be properly labelled “GV” (government) for easy identification, a move which the government believed would prevent misuse of state vehicles.

Meanwhile, Vice President John Dramani Mahama has lashed out at the past administration saying it left behind a huge debt.

The Ghanaian Times’ story on the subject read: “NPP left behind 80 billion Ghana cedis debt”.

It said Vice-President Mahama indicated that the NPP administration left behind a total debt of 80 billion Ghana cedis ((US$1=1.43 Ghana cedis) after its eight-year rule.

He expressed regret that even though Ghana’s entire debt of 41 billion dollars since independence in 1957 to 2001 was cancelled under the HIPC initiative, it was ironic that the NPP had incurred such an astronomical debt for the country.

Addressing NDC faithful on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the birth of the party, he said the Tema Oil Refinery recovery levy imposed by the NPP government was never used to defray the debt.

“Instead it was used by the NPP administration to support the budget, when it was paid into the consolidated fund.”

But NPP countered the claim with the former government spokesperson on finance Kwaku Kwarteng sharply dismissing the Vice President’s claim and asserting that the NPP’s economic performance was the best in the country’s history.

Accra – 13/06/2009

Pana