The tariff of electricity has been increased by 14.75 percent and water by 4.02 percent from May 3
The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has strongly opposed the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) recent utility tariff increase, describing the justification as untenable, citing systemic mismanagement in the sector.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced an upward adjustment in water and electricity tariffs effective May 3, 2025.
Under the new tariff adjustment, the tariff of electricity has been increased by 14.75 percent and water by 4.02 percent.
A statement signed by the new Executive Secretary of PURC, Dr Shafic Suleman, explained that a total payment of the outstanding revenues from the previous quarters had resulted in a much higher increase in both electricity and water tariffs.
However, according to a statement released on April 15, 2025, and signed by Secretary-General Azimy Alpha Ashaban, GUTA dismissed the reasons given by the PURC, adding that there is a lot of wastage in the sectors which first needed to be addressed.
“For us, these reasons do not hold water. We appreciate the fact that life is not static; changes are inevitable when they are necessary but not at the whim of any particular body.
“It is an open secret that there is a lot of wastage in the management of electricity and water, which every well-meaning Ghanaian will attest to this plain truth,” the statement read.
GUTA highlighted five key inefficiencies plaguing Ghana’s utility providers including inflated procurement costs benefiting individuals at state expense, poor debt collection from state institutions, burdening other consumers, unchecked illegal connections due to lax enforcement, regulatory failures in monitoring service providers and the theft of ECG assets, including missing containers recently found in Tema.
“If indeed the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission is strict on the management of these utility Service Providers to ensure there is value for money, most of the wastages due to a combination of factors, including stealing and stealing-related cases, could have been halted,” the association stated.
The traders’ body demanded immediate government action to recover stolen state funds and prosecute offenders, arguing that tariff hikes cannot substitute for proper sector reforms.
“GUTA is asking the state actors to sit up, collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, harness all available resources, and leverage them for our national development, rather than living in this seeming poverty and squalor in the midst of plenty.
“We, therefore, appeal to the government to focus much attention on this negative attitude to public service, identify all those who steal, divert, misappropriate, misapply and/or loot state funds or property and deal with them decisively to recover all stolen properties of the state,” the body concluded.
The PURC has yet to respond to these allegations as tensions mount between regulators and business operators ahead of the tariff implementation.
See the statement below:
ID/MA
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