As the federal government grapples with the urgent subject of Ghana’s power sector debt, Majority Chief Mahama Ayariga has made a fervent enchantment to Ghanaians in help of the Power Sector Levies (Modification Invoice), 2025, which imposes a “one cedi per litre” tax on gas purchases.
Mr Ayariga believed the invoice, which was launched in Parliament by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is the direct answer to finish the persistent challenges within the power sector.
The invoice, submitted beneath a certificates of urgency, if authorized, will impose recent taxes on all petroleum merchandise, which the Finance Minister says is important to clear an alarming US$3.1 billion power debt as of the top of March 2025.
This triggered a heated debate in Parliament on Tuesday, June 3, as Minority Chief Alexander Afenyo-Markin described the request by the Finance Minister as one other type of the E-Levy which has been scrapped by the federal government.
Nonetheless, Mr Ayariga was emphatic in distinguishing this proposed Power Sector Levy Modification Invoice from the contentious E-levy, which confronted widespread public opposition.
READ ALSO: 1 litre, GH¢1: New fuel levy looms as Finance Minister submits request to Parliament
Talking through the parliamentary session right now, Mr Ayariga sought to make clear the federal government’s intent behind the proposed power levy, stressing its singular deal with stabilising the nation’s electrical energy provide.
“I believe the invoice has been referred to the committee. I simply assume that for the information, what’s earlier than us is just not the E-levy, what’s earlier than us is the Power Sector Levy Modification Invoice, and principally it’s saying that Ghanaians ought to give one cedi, one Ghana cedi every, once they purchase a litre of gas in order that we will finish dumsor. That is all,” Ayariga passionately articulated.
He reiterated the simplicity and urgency of the decision: “All of us ought to contribute one cedi, only one cedi, in order that we will finish dumsor. One cedi; every of us, once we purchase gas, one litre, one cedi.”
Ayariga’s repeated insistence on the levy not being the E-levy underscores the federal government’s consciousness of public sensitivity surrounding taxation and its earlier unpopular monetary insurance policies.
The E-levy, an digital transaction tax, had met with vital public backlash and authorized challenges upon its introduction.
The Majority Chief knowledgeable the Home that the Power Sector Levy Modification Invoice has been referred to the related parliamentary committee for scrutiny.
He urged each his colleagues and the general public to train endurance and permit the parliamentary course of to unfold.
“Let’s all maintain on. The committee will current their report back to us, and once we think about their report, we will debate all these issues. We will debate the urgency. We will debate the levy itself,” he suggested, concluding with a plea for calm: “So please, let’s maintain our hearth.”
The US$3.1 billion as of March 2025 contains vital arrears to Unbiased Energy Producers and gas suppliers.
The federal government views this new levy as a devoted and essential funding stream to obtain important gas for energy era, in the end aiming to revive stability to Ghana’s electrical energy grid.
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