The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has criticised the government over the implementation of the dumsor levy.
The Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Act, 2025, which introduced a GHS1 tax per litre of fuel, takes effect on Wednesday, July 16.
The levy is expected to raise GHS5.7 billion annually to settle energy sector debts and secure fuel for power generation.
The lawmaker argued that the new levy has robbed Ghanaians of much-needed relief from the cedi’s recent appreciation.
Oppong Nkrumah, who is also the MP for Ofoase Ayirebi, insisted the tax will have severe consequences on costs of living and fuel prices, despite earlier assurances from government officials that it would not.
“The fair thing is that this is the time when, because of the strengthening of our currency, Ghanaians should have been enjoying relief, and the government is rather at this time introducing this levy, denying the people of Ghana this relief,” he told journalists in Parliament.
He further warned that the levy will have a cascading effect across the economy, impacting transport, agriculture, and food prices.
“When you put a levy like this on fuel, fuel has a 100% cascading effect. It will affect transport. Eventually, when farmers are buying fuel for their tractors and machines to work on their farms, it will affect it. Food prices will begin to experience escalation, and general price levels will go up by this 8% that they have introduced,” Oppong Nkrumah stressed.
