Ghana’s Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has strongly rejected government proposals for a new petroleum levy, arguing it unfairly burdens consumers to resolve power sector debts stemming from mismanagement and alleged corruption.
Executive Secretary Duncan Amoah stated the levy shifts responsibility for institutional failures onto citizens already facing economic strain.
“The power sector debt is not out of vacuum. Something led to the accumulation of the debt. The transmission losses is one, poor revenue generation and collection, is two, and the use of the revenue is three,” Amoah declared during a Joy Business interview. He specifically implicated the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), alleging: “It is as if ECG has money that they can use for corrupt things… we have allowed them to misuse the money and then they come back to tell us there is no money.”
Amoah cited systemic issues including procurement breaches and disregard for regulations. “The procurement breaches and corruption and blatant disregard for the laws and sometimes even common sense. We must check that,” he emphasized. COPEC contends that imposing a one-cedi-per-litre fuel tax represents an unjust solution to debts accrued through poor governance.
The group urges transparent, sustainable alternatives for settling debts to Independent Power Producers, maintaining that ordinary Ghanaians—particularly petroleum consumers—should not bear the cost of sectoral failures. The criticism emerges as Ghana balances urgent revenue needs against public resistance to new consumption taxes.
