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Former Vice-President and 2024 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has strongly criticised the government for the recently passed Energy Sector (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The bill, which was approved by Parliament on Tuesday, 3rd June, imposes a GH¢1 levy on every litre of petroleum products as part of efforts to rescue the country’s heavily indebted energy sector.
Presenting the bill in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson stated that the government expects to raise GH¢5.7 billion to help reduce the energy sector’s mounting debt, currently estimated at $3.1 billion. The aim, he explained, is to prevent intermittent power outages, commonly referred to in Ghana as dumsor.
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However, reacting to the development during his ‘Thank You Tour’ in Cape Coast, Central Region, Dr Bawumia accused the NDC administration of deceiving Ghanaians into voting them into power.
According to him, the current levy, which he described as the dumsor levy, is eight times worse than the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), introduced under the previous NPP administration.
Dr Bawumia stated:
The NDC told so many lies, and every day we are seeing them exposed. Yesterday, they brought the dumsor levy after criticising our government for introducing the E-Levy. But this new levy is eight times higher than the E-Levy. If you buy GH¢1,000 worth of petrol, you will pay GH¢83 in levies, whereas the E-Levy only charged GH¢10.
He added that Ghanaians would eventually turn to the NPP to rescue the country in the 2028 general elections:
By 2028, Ghanaians will realise they were misled by numerous falsehoods and will return us to power to rescue the nation.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians that the newly passed levy will not result in immediate increases in fuel prices at the pump.
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He noted that the potential impact has been cushioned by the recent strengthening of the Ghanaian cedi and general macroeconomic stability.
He gave this assurance on Wednesday, 4th June, while addressing members of the National Economic Dialogue Planning Committee at Jubilee House following the presentation of their final report.