GH¢1 levy not meant to pay for the Energy Sector’s legacy debts but…- John Jinapor

John Abdulai Jinapor, the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, clarified that the new Energy Sector Levy is not for paying legacy debts.

He explained that the levy is intended to cover liquid fuel costs. Currently, these costs are not included in electricity tariffs. This creates financing challenges for the government.

In an interview with JOY FM, Jinapor emphasized that governance involves making tough decisions. He stated, "Nobody enjoys imposing taxes or levies on Ghanaians."

He added that their analysis showed liquid fuels are not part of the tariff structure. Therefore, money collected from electricity payments does not fund liquid fuel procurement.

Jinapor noted it takes 18 months to 2 years to establish gas infrastructure. He mentioned options like increasing electricity tariffs or relying on non-existent funds from the finance minister.

In related news, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia criticized the NDC government for introducing a dumsor levy eight times higher than the e-levy.

He claimed that while they scrapped the e-levy, they replaced it with this new levy. For example, sending GHC 1000 via mobile money incurs a GHC 10 fee under the e-levy.

However, buying GHC 1000 worth of fuel now incurs GHC 83 in new taxes. Bawumia expressed concern about more taxes coming in the future.

He believes Ghanaians will realize many lies told by the NDC as time goes on.