Hundreds of commercial drivers and consumers of petroleum products hit the streets of Accra this morning over what they describe as persistent and burdensome hikes in the prices of petroleum products.
Led by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) in collaboration with the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), the protest is to force the government to offer clarify in the random increases of fuel prices.
According to COPEC and ICU, the rampant hikes witnessed in the past five months have resulted in hardships for the commercial drivers and workers.
Clad in red attire with head and arm bands, hundreds of the demonstrators converged at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange from where they marched through the principal streets to the Accra Arts Centre in the central business district, during which they presented petitions to Presidency, Parliament, and the Ministers of Finance and Energy.
COPEC, in a statement ahead of the demonstration, indicated that the high fuel prices were making the cost of living unbearable for the generality of Ghanaians.
“Several press releases on the subject matter including a recent press conference addressed by the leader of the largest Workers Union in the Country-ICU, has so far yielded very little results as the increases continue unabated, with the most recent one being yesterday (Monday).
“Several attempts, including a petition on same matter submitted to the Presidency in September 2017, to draw the attention of authorities to the need to review the pricing formulae or build-up and the taxes has equally not yielded any noticeable results.” the statement noted.
But the in a statement, the National Petroleum Commission (NPA) described the reason for the demonstration as “unjustified.”
According to the NPA, the increasing prices of petroleum products in Ghana was a result of rising prices on the international market of which Ghana did not have control.
“For instance, the prices of petrol and diesel on the international market have increased cumulatively by 17% and 19% respectively since November 2017,” the NPA said.
By Nii Adotey/adrdaily.com
