Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has launched a pointed critique against President John Dramani Mahama, describing the recently introduced GHS1 fuel tax as a “weak and convenient choice” that fails to address the deep-rooted issues within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Ahiagbah contended that the new levy, aimed at compensating for ECG’s inefficiencies and revenue shortfalls, is neither bold nor difficult, but an act of political and economic expediency at the expense of already burdened Ghanaians.
“Someone at Jubilee House, perhaps Hon. Felix Ofosu Kwakye, Minister in charge of Government Communications or Cassiel Ato Forson, Finance Minister, needs to remind the President of Ghana that taxing Ghanaians to compensate for the inefficiencies, mismanagement, systemic power theft, and corruption at ECG… does not qualify as making a difficult decision”
Richard Ahiagbah, NPP Director of Communications
Rejecting the logic behind the levy, Ahiagbah argued that the imposition of the tax reflects not leadership, but a refusal to tackle the structural and operational challenges at ECG, which have accumulated over years due to poor oversight and systemic failure.
Citing the Oxford Dictionary, Ahiagbah underscored that the term “difficult” denotes actions that require “considerable effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand.” Based on that definition, he maintained, the President’s decision to introduce a GHS1 tax per litre of fuel to address ECG’s financial gaps cannot be classified as difficult.
“He required minimal effort, aside from directing the Finance Minister to prepare a tax bill for parliament, which was quickly passed with a supermajority without prior consultation or engagement with Ghanaians”
Richard Ahiagbah, NPP Director of Communications
Ahiagbah described the approach as “insensitive, lazy, and incompetent,” characterizing the fuel tax – dubbed by critics as the “D-levy” – as a convenient but hollow mechanism that side steps genuine reform.
“It resembles spending your father’s money to show off and then claiming to friends that you worked hard for it,” Ahiagbah remarked, casting doubt on the integrity and vision of the President’s fiscal leadership.
He stressed that a truly difficult decision would have entailed addressing the endemic corruption and technical inefficiencies within ECG itself. Instead, he suggested, the administration has defaulted to the politically easy route of increasing taxes on fuel – an essential commodity whose cost reverberates through transportation, goods, and services.
“The 1992 Constitution outlines the President of Ghana’s authority to tax or levy. Therefore, imposing this… D-levy is an easy and cheap solution for President John Dramani Mahama”
Richard Ahiagbah, NPP Director of Communications
The Communications Director’s statement also accused President Mahama of reneging on campaign promises, particularly his widely publicized commitment to remove what he previously described as burdensome and unjustified taxes, including the COVID-19 levy.
Ahiagbah emphasized that the reality is that the President has not fulfilled his promise to remove taxes.
He contrasted that failure with the new tax, arguing that it places a heavier burden on Ghanaians than the Electronic Levy (E-levy) that President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) once condemned during their campaign to regain power and removed within their 120 days social contract.
Ahiagbah insisted on the false pretenses by the government and the disappointment introduced by the D-levy. He concluded his remarks with a grim warning to citizens, predicting more let downs: “Ghanaians, we must prepare ourselves for more broken promises and difficulties.”
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