The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Energy Committee has called on the government to immediately halt the proposed utility tariff increments announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission.
According to the Minority, instead of addressing structural challenges within the energy and water sectors, the government has chosen to burden households and businesses with higher costs.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on December 2 announced significant utility tariff increments that will take effect on January 1, 2026.
They mentioned a 9.86% increase in electricity tariffs across all customer categories and a 15.92% increase in water tariffs for all classes.
Addressing the press on December 8, the Minority, through Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee and Member of Parliament for Asene Manso Akroso, George Kwame Aboagye, strongly opposed this.
“Instead of fixing the system, the government has chosen the lazy path of shifting its failures onto already suffering consumers,” he said.
They warned that failure to reverse the tariff hikes would have severe social and economic consequences for the country.
“Escalating utility poverty. Leaving more families unable to afford basic electricity,”
“Collapse of SMEs which form the backbone of our economy due to unbeatable operating costs. We are already experiencing a teeming unemployment youth in the country,”
“Reduced productivity and competitiveness further wreaking the economy. And heightened social and economic hardship, deepens the suffering of workers and households.”
The Minority said the tariff adjustments cannot be described as reforms but rather reflect poor leadership and policies.
“These tariff hacks are not reforms, they’re punishments. They are not solutions, they’re symptoms of failed leadership and poor policy choices.”
They called on government to immediately suspend the increases and engage stakeholders.
“We call on the government to immediately halt these incessant increases. The minority stands firmly with Ghanaian workers, households, small businesses and industries.”
The caucus further assured that it would deploy all measures to demand accountability from the government.
“We will continue to use every legitimate parliamentary tool to demand fairness, transparency and accountability in the management of the nation’s utilities.”
