A coalition of Ghanaian business associations has vehemently condemned Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) push for new electricity tariff hikes, labelling the current pricing system as “anti-business, anti-growth, and fundamentally flawed.”
The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG), joined by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, expressed “outrage” over the continuous tariff engagements, arguing that the soaring cost of power is not only unsustainable but actively encourages criminality.
FABAG Executive Chairman, Rev. John Awuni, noted that the current regime “punishes honest businesses and users in general and rewards inefficiency.”
“When electricity becomes unaffordable, it becomes a target for illegal access. We are fast creating a society where honest business owners are punished while defaulters and illegal users thrive,” Rev. Awuni stated.
The groups contend that honest Ghanaians are being forced to subsidize the power sector’s chronic losses, mismanagement, and corruption. This burden, they warn, is pushing manufacturers, especially SMEs and energy-intensive industries (like cold storage and factories), to scale down operations, lay off workers, or pass exorbitant costs to already “overburdened consumers.”
The associations argued that the disproportionate tariffs on productive sectors are a “clear betrayal of government’s own promise to make Ghana an industrial hub,” as they make local manufacturing uncompetitive and imports more attractive.
Rev. Awuni stressed that pursuing tariff increases without fixing internal problems is futile, comparing it to “pouring water into a leaking bucket.”
“No amount of higher tariffs can sustainably compensate for the inefficiency, mismanagement, poor revenue collection, bad debts, poor workers attitude and corruption in our Utilities,” he asserted.
The business coalition is demanding immediate and comprehensive reforms from the government and the PURC, calling for a shift from punishing consumers to fixing systemic problems. Their core demands include:
- A full audit of the real cost of power production and distribution.
- A simplified, transparent tariff structure that rewards efficiency and productive use.
- Urgent relief for businesses, particularly in manufacturing and agribusiness.
- An aggressive crackdown on internal waste and corruption in the power sector, not just illegal connections.
- Implementation of quantifiable internal or operational cost-cutting measures.
The statement concluded with an appeal to President John Mahama to “act now,” declaring, “Electricity must empower not impoverish.”
Source:Lovinghananews.com
