A group calling itself the Ghana Committed Drivers Association of Ghana (CDAG), has indicated that it will increase transport fares by 20 percent from Monday, October 29.
Ordinarily, fares are determined by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council in conjunction with GPRTU, the Ministry of Transport and other stakeholders. It is thus unclear the locus of this group in coming up with new prices.
It says the decision is as a result of the continuous hike in fuel prices.
The Chairman of the Association which is made up of hundreds of commercial drivers in the country, Charles Danso, told Citi News that the current price of fuel is putting members through unbearable economic challenges, hence the decision to increase the fares.
“All the fuel stations are increasing the fuel prices. If we the drivers do not increase our fares too, we can’t survive. We can no longer survive. We are in a liberal economy and no one determines the price for anyone so from Monday, we are going to increase it by 20 per cent. It must work,” he said.
Citi News’ checks at various fuel stations revealed that almost all Oil Marketing Companies had reviewed the prices upwards.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) confirmed that fuel prices had been increased by over 2%, the second time in barely two months.
In September 2018, the price of fuel crossed the GH¢ 5 per litre mark.
According to the NPA, the latest price increase is as a result of the hike in the price of finished petroleum products on the international market, despite a fall in the price of crude on the global market.
The price of petrol and diesel is currently pegged at GH¢5.21 per litre, up from the previous price of GH¢5.07 per litre.
Meanwhile, Policy think tank on taxation and consumer protection CUTS International, wants the government to reduce the special petroleum levy to give consumers relief.
Executive Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, told Citi News the government can still help relieve consumers of the burden from the increases.
“Government can take away some of the taxes from petroleum whenever the prices go up on the world market. We asked the government to reduce the Special petroleum levy so that consumers can get some kind of relief from the high prices. Petroleum price in Ghana is very high and we need to find a sustainable way of addressing this.
