A GROUP in Kumasi calling itself the Movement for a Better Ghana (MBG), has called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG) to stop “their hypocrisy” and join forces with the NDC government to create a ‘Better Ghana’ for all.
It said “the noise and threats” being made by the NPP and AFAG about the recent price increases in petroleum products were anti-development and threatened to embark on a counter demonstration
against AFAG if it went ahead with its intended threat to embark on a demonstration.
At a news conference in Kumasi to react to some comments by the NPP, AFAG and other followers of the main opposition party, the leader of MBG, Mr Aubrey Mends, observed that the NPP’s inability to deal realistically with oil prices had resulted in the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR in curring) huge debts , which almost collapsed the Ghana Commercial Bank.
He said within two years, the NDC government had been able to clear a good part of the debt but with the price of crude oil on the international market hitting $93 per barrel, the MBG believed every person who wanted to live a meaningful life must learn how to live with the current increases.
He said the argument that the NDC in opposition promised a drastic reduction of petroleum prices only to do the opposite when it won power must be put in its right perspective.
“In August 2008, when prices of crude soared on the international market to $140 per barrel, the then government was actually buying crude at $114 per barrel and sold petrol at GH¢5.3p per gallon.
“By November 2008, the price of crude had come down below $59 per barrel on the international market so the then candidate Mills and NDC’s argument was that given the prevailing market conditions at the time, “we were going to reduce prices of petroleum products,” Mr Mends said.
He said it was therefore unfortunate that the NPP and its appendages such as AFAG would want to take the situation out of context to suit their cheap political aspirations.
According to him, President Mills and his government had shown so much commitment by subsidising kerosene and pre-mix fuel, adding that this underlined the social democratic credentials of the NDC government.
He noted that had the government subsidised all petroleum products, development of key areas of the nation would suffer greatly.
“The government has got to complete the roads that are ongoing, continue to provide quality educational infrastructure, eliminate schools under trees and pay rewarding wages and salaries,” he said and therefore called on Ghanaians to bear with the government on the hike in petroleum prices.
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