By: Deborah Amewoyi.
Ghana Revenue Authority in a letter dated June, 13 has announced the indefinite postponement of the controversial Energy sector (Amendment) levy referred to as the Dumsor levy which seeks to deduct GH￠1.00 on every litre of fuel purchased from the pumps.
According to the notice, the GRA following a directive from the Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson in consultation with relevant stakeholders within the Energy Sector indicated that the levy which was set to be implemented today June, 16 2025 has been postponed until further notice.
Reacting to the news of the indefinite rescheduling, Minority Caucus in Parliament have vehemently called for the repealment of the Energy Sector (Amendment) levy.
In the release signed by Minority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin on June 14, the Minority are demanding for the immediate certificate of urgency to repeal the punitive energy sector levy due to government’s shameful retreat.
The letter describes the government’s recent move to call off the implementation of the dumsor levy as an exposure to “fundamental incompetence and hipocrisy.” Referencing the previous Nana Akufo-Addo led government, the minority castigated the current government for rubuking the minority when they were in power for attributing the economic crisis to the Russian – Ukraine War and the impacts of the Corona Virus pandemic.
“We consider it thoroughly reprehensible and profoundly hypocritical that the very Government
which ruthlessly castigated the previous New Patriotic Party administration under His Excellency
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for attributing Ghana’s economic challenges to
external factors – namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict – has now
brazenly reversed course to cite the ongoing Middle Eastern crisis as justification for crude oil
price volatility, thereby necessitating this postponement” it read.
Despite embracing the postponement, the minority is keen on repealing the implementation of the levy citing its potential influence on the cost of living of the Ghanaian people. “introduction of supplementary fuel levies – which inevitably generate cascading effects upon transportation costs, food prices, and all essential commodities—represents not merely insensitive policymaking but economically counterproductive governance.” the release stressed.
Adding up, the letter requested that the government urgently tables a repeal bill under certificate of urgency to comprehensively abolish the Energy Sector Levies
(Amendment) Act, 2025.
The Minority has further cautioned the government not to use its call for repeal of the “obnoxious” dumsor levy as a pretext to worsen the current power crisis plaguing Ghana’s Energy Sector. It alleged that the current Energy Sector power crisis is as a result of the government’s mismanagement and directs that any further hiccups within the energy sector should be laid at the feet of the government and not the repealment of the dumsor levy.
Conclusively, the minority is calling on the greater section of the Ghanaian populace to side with them in order to repeal what they describe as “pernicious levy.”
