A member of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) communication team, Hamza Suhuyini, has justified the newly introduced GH¢1 levy on fuel purchases, saying its impact will be minimal due to recent reductions in fuel prices.
Parliament on Tuesday, June 3, passed the Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Bill, 2025, despite a walkout by the Minority side.
The bill, widely referred to as the “dumsor levy,” imposes a GH¢1 charge on every litre of fuel to raise funds to address challenges in the energy sector.
The move has sparked backlash, especially from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who accuse the government of deceiving Ghanaians by removing certain taxes only to introduce what they say are more burdensome ones.
But speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV on Wednesday, June 4, Hamza Suhuyini said the levy’s effect will not be harsh, considering that fuel prices have been reduced from GH¢16 per litre to GH¢12, alongside recent gains made by the cedi.
“As we speak today, the GH¢16 per litre we inherited, we have managed to move it down to 12 Ghana cedis. So we had positioned the country in such a way that we are now financially sound to be able to confront the challenges that we’ve always known about in the energy sector that we are inheriting from the NPP,” he said.
He added, “So if today, because of our management of the economy to ease the burden on the Ghanaian people, we are asking for a GH¢1 increase that moves the price of petrol from 12 to 13 cedis — still less than the 16 cedis we inherited — it is so that we can repay some of the debts we inherited. In the liquefied fuels sector alone, we owe Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to the tune of about $3.1 billion. That money needs to be paid.”
“The effect of that will not be felt, because, obviously, 16 and 13 Ghana — which is better? So there’s the need for us to have this perspective,” Suhuyini stressed.
