Member of Parliament for Suaman Constituency, Hon. Fredrick Addy, has issued his response on the government’s decision to impose a one cedi tax on all petroleum products aimed at addressing a power crisis which is commonly known as ‘dumsor’.
According to him, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed office, they worked to fulfill their promises to Ghanaians by removing several taxes introduced by the previous administration, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), delivering on a key campaign promise.
He said this on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, when he was expressing his opinion on the ‘Dumsor-levy’ in Parliament.
“The NDC promised Ghanaians to eliminate all the taxes the NPP imposed on them and truly, when they came into power, they have really tried their best to scrap almost all of these taxes which E-Levy is one of them,” he said.
However, he stated that, ironically, the NDC, who previously slammed the NPP’s taxes, have introduced a new tax, which they claim to be the ‘dumsor-levy, which is even more costly comparing to the old taxes the NPPs took during their tenure in office.
“The surprising thing is that, the NDC, who spoke ill against the various levies the NPP established, have also come out with a D-Levy which is much more expensive when compared to that of the NPP’s old levies,” he explained.
Mr. Addy criticized the incumbent Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, for not being able to stick to his promises of assuring Ghanaians that, taxes will be “a thing of the past” like he said during this ministerial vetting.
“The Finance Minister, during his vetting, guaranteed that, Ghana’s economic independence can be achieved without imposing certain levies, pledging to make them a thing of the past, but now, he has failed us” he censured.
He expressed concerns that, the new tax will significantly burden farmers, especially those in his constituency, who rely on fuel for their operations.
“Imagine if the fuel is 50cedis, you pay additional 5cedis as a contribution to fight power crisis; meanwhile, when the Electronic Levy (E-Levy) was effective under the past administration of NPP, making a mobile money transaction of 100cedis attracted just a levy of one cedi; but now, buying fuel for 100cedis attracts a D-Levy of 10cedis. The E-Levy Ghanaians once complained of and this current Levy initiated by the NDC, which one is better?” he queried.
“This new levy has severely impacted my constituency, especially the poor farmers, draining their limited financial resources,” he added.
He urged the NDC to rethink their stance on levies and be more realistic, particularly considering such financial burden the less-privileged will have to go through.
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