The debate over Ghana’s recurring utility tariff hikes has resurfaced, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) squarely placing responsibility at the feet of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), accusing them of institutionalizing the policy through the 2023 IMF bailout arrangement.
The NDC’s Hamza Suhuyini directly challenged members of the NPP, particularly Ishaq Ibrahim, over their denial of the IMF’s quarterly tariff adjustment clause, which Suhuyini insists was a foundational part of the agreement negotiated and signed by the Akufo-Addo administration.
“This is the IMF memorandum of understanding signed with the Government of Ghana… Go to page 67 and you will find this there”
Hamza Suhuyini, Lawyer and Policy Advocate
“This is not a policy we crafted,” Suhuyini said, exhibiting evidence from the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) agreement signed between the Government of Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May 2023.
At the heart of his rebuttal was the accusation that the NPP’s 2023 deal deliberately committed the nation to sustained, quarterly utility hikes, policy decisions he argues have now become difficult for President John Dramani Mahama’s administration to navigate, despite not having authored them.
The policy, he noted, is binding and stems from economic mismanagement under Akufo-Addo’s tenure.
“Over the course of the medium term, we will fulfill this objective by fully implementing the energy sector reform program to reduce power sector financial shortfall, improve ECG operational performance, and fully implement tariff reforms to ensure quarterly adjustments.
“Specific interventions which will be jointly overseen by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy include, implementing an upfront weighted average electricity tariff adjustment of at least 29% in January 2023… This will be followed by quarterly tariff adjustments reflecting exchange rates, inflation, and fuel price changes”
Hamza Suhuyini, Lawyer and Policy Advocate
For Suhuyini, the document offers irrefutable evidence that the NPP knowingly bound the country to a path of regular and automatic tariff hikes, with clear benchmarks tied to economic indicators.
The Forgetful Party
While the NPP’s Ishaq Ibrahim had repeatedly challenged NDC spokespersons to provide a specific clause from the IMF agreement stating these terms, Suhuyini expressed disbelief at what he described as selective amnesia and ignorance by the NPP.
“I was laughing at Ishaq’s ignorance with the very document that they’ve birthed. That is the kind of party we are dealing with,” he remarked.
The larger political context of Suhuyini’s comments related to growing public dissatisfaction over power bills and energy pricing across Ghana.
The issue has re-emerged as one of the top concerns for households and businesses, particularly amid the broader backdrop of intermittent power outages and inflationary pressures that continue to squeeze the national economy.
President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC who resumed office in January 2025, inherited the implementation phase of the IMF’s bailout deal and are now faced with a communication challenge.
While the new government is compelled to follow through on the technical and fiscal benchmarks negotiated by the previous administration, it must simultaneously manage citizen expectations and NPP narratives that frame the hikes as new policies from the Mahama-led NDC.
Suhuyini’s comments reflect an increasingly assertive tone from the Majority in Parliament as they work to separate their governance legacy from what they describe as “economic sabotage disguised as policy” by the NPP.
“They sit here and talk about utility prices. What didn’t we go through under Akufo-Addo and the NPP government?
“What we are still having to deal with today is as a result of the ineffective and poor leadership of the NPP”
Hamza Suhuyini, Lawyer and Policy Advocate
He further warned that the NDC will not allow the NPP to “escape the consequences of their own decisions.”
As the political season heats up ahead of the mid-year budget review, it appears utility pricing and the broader implications of the IMF agreement will continue to dominate discourse.
For now, Suhuyini and the NDC appear focused on forcing public acknowledgment from the NPP of what they describe as “intentional economic burdens,” placed on Ghanaians through international deals they authored but now seek to disown.
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