It appears that the Mills administration has its back tightly pushed to the wall without any options but to admit its thievery. According to Citi FM News monitored, his deputy minister for Energy Inusah Fuseini has conceded that they will comply with the high court order forcing them to reduce fuel products prices by at least GHC1.00 each per one gallon. The energy Ministry has been at the centre of several acts of corruption since the Mills-led government took office. You would recall that recently the sector minister, Oteng-Gyasi dodged parliamentarians seeking to verify if he had signed and paid US$5 million to Tsatsu Tsikata in a very dubious circumstances. Prior to that, the ministry failed to replace the instrument for measuring how much crude oil is loaded onto the floating vessel. As a result, the government has been massaging the quantum of crude oil lifted in 2011 as there appears to be conflicting figures churn out by Mills-led government in the 2012 budget statement.
According to the Citi News item, though the minister is pledging to comply with the court's decision, he gave no indication as to when they intend to announce the adjustment. The Deputy Energy Minister according to Citi News only disclosed that fuel prices will be adjusted downwards at the pumps after the ex-differential tax imposed on Ghanaians was scrapped. As you and I know, the word 'will' is nothing but a vague promise and empty noise until it is translated into action at the pumps.
His announcement follows an Accra High Court ruling on November 28, 2011 that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should expunge the ex-refinery differential tax which was imposed on Ghanaians without parliamentary approval.
The court also directed that the accrued surplus since June 2009, which the plaintiffs estimated to be in the region of GHc 661 million, should be deposited into the Consolidated Fund on behalf of Ghanaians.
Fuseini emphasized that the fuel prices will be adjusted downwards, but the NPA will take the necessary steps to appeal against the ruling.
His announcement follows an Accra High Court ruling on November 28, 2011 that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should expunge the ex-refinery differential tax which was imposed on Ghanaians without parliamentary approval.
The court also directed that the accrued surplus since June 2009, which the plaintiffs estimated to be in the region of GHc 661 million, should be deposited into the Consolidated Fund on behalf of Ghanaians.
Fuseini emphasized that the fuel prices will be adjusted downwards, but the NPA will take the necessary steps to appeal against the ruling.
The NPP’s parliamentary candidate for Obuasi, Kweku Kwarteng, took the matter to court two years ago challenging the propriety of the tax. He claimed that the ex-refinery differential component of the ex-refinery price imposed by NPA and TOR on June 5, 2009 was illegal and that the ex-pump prices announced by the first defendant on June 5, 2009, on the basis of the ex-refinery prices referred to, were not in accordance with the prescribed petroleum pricing formula and therefore unlawful.
