The National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has accused the President, Nana Akufo-Addo of being insensitive to Ghanaians for increasing the BOST margin, a tax component on petroleum products, by 100 percent.
Ghanaians beginning June 1, 2020, started paying more for fuel at the pumps following Cabinet’s decision to increase the BOST margin from three pesewas to six pesewas per a litre of petroleum product.
Addressing the press on Monday, Sammy Gyamfi intimated that: “This latest action of President Akufo-Addo at a time the nation is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant economic effects is a monumental betrayal of the trust of Ghanaians and smacks of insensitivity of the highest order. President Akufo Addo’s decision to punish the already impoverished Ghanaian with more taxes, for his corrupt acts and that of his errant appointees that have brought BOST to its knees is most insensitive and completely unacceptable.”
“Even more bizarre and painful is the fact that, after running down BOST through corruption and thievery, President Akufo-Addo who preached against the imposition of taxes on petroleum products while in opposition, and promised to move Ghana from taxation to production if elected, has recently increased the BOST Margin the Mahama government had promised to scrap, by 100% on petroleum products, that is from 3 pesewas to 6 pesewas, ostensibly to raise funds for the management of the company he has collapsed.”
Background
Two weeks ago, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in a statement said the BOST margin which used to be three pesewas per litre had been increased by an additional three pesewas.
The regulator in the statement explained that the increment was approved by Cabinet.
“We write to inform you of a review of the BOST Margin in the Price Build-Up (PBU) of petroleum products effective 1st June 2020. This is in line with a decision taken by Cabinet and communicated to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) by the Ministry of Energy,” the statement said.
Sammy Gyamfi who was speaking at the launch of the NDC’s “Corruption Tracker Series” accused the President of deceiving Ghanaians.
