The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has called on the public to ignore an announcement of a 30 per cent increment in transport fare because negotiations with stakeholders were still ongoing with no official conclusion yet.
The GPRTU, the umbrella association for transport operators, said it was a betrayal by a section of its members to go ahead and declare an increment when negotiations between commercial drivers and the government were still ongoing.
“We have not yet concluded negotiations, so the public should ignore those reports. Officially, we have planned that we will issue a statement to announce the new rate after our meeting with the Transport Minister on Monday,” the Deputy General Secretary in Charge of Operations GPRTU, Mr Richard Yaw Amankwah, explained on Friday, 18 February 2022.
“When we did our calculations, we agreed that the increment in fares should be at least 21.4 per cent. So we proposed 30 per cent to the government,” Mr Amankwah revealed in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
However, reports suggest that the government was willing to sanction a 10% rise in transport fares, resulting in a stalemate between the parties involved.
According to Mr Amankwah, “All the 16 transport unions that make up the Coalition of Commercial Transport Unions of Ghana have agreed to conclude our negotiations with the government before we take any step. So if one group comes out to announce a rate whiles negotiations are ongoing, then it’s a betrayal”.
On Thursday, some splinter groups, comprising the Committed Drivers Association, National Concern Drivers Association and the True Drivers Union announced the 30 per cent fare hike to be implemented on Friday, 18 February 2022.
The drivers have been pushing for fare increments for several months and decided to take action due to the rising fuel cost and other products.
According to the groups, “A gallon of fuel which used to sell at the pump for GHC 27 cedis, has now jumped to almost GHC 36 cedis per gallon” necessitating a reaction to balance the losses that they are likely to incur.
“As the public may be aware, the government and the Coalition of Private Commercial Transport Operators are still engaged in marathon negotiations for an increase in transport fares. While we the operators are calling for 30% increase in transport fares, the government has put on the table 10%. As a result, the negotiation ended inconclusively and is expected to continue tomorrow, 18 February 2022.
“Sadly, before the scheduled meeting with the government could take place, fuel prices have been increased by about 30 pesewas per litre. Now a litre of fuel at some of the major filling stations are being sold for GHC 7.990.
“We wish to entreat our valued customers to bear with us as we need to save our business, sustain it and keep providing you with our critical services,” they said in a joint statement.
In a related development, the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PRSL), suspended from November 2021 to the end of January 2022, has been reintroduced this month.
Fuel prices have gone up by at least 50 pesewas per litre at the pumps since 01 February 2022. Petrol and diesel are currently being sold at an average GH₵ 7.4.
The hike has been blamed on the rising cost of Brent crude on the international market, with some analysts projecting that fuel prices could hit GH₵8.0 per litre by March this year if the situation on the world market persisted.
A little over a month ago, drivers embarked on a nationwide strike over fuel prices and returned to work only after an intervention by the government.
What can be done to address the situation?
The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, told The Ghana Report, “We have a local refinery that we could have leveraged to get some fuel security at lower prices, but unfortunately, we don’t think there is a political will to refurbish the Tema Oil Refinery”.
Mr Amoah observed a fully functional refinery would cut the logistical cost, which adds to the price build-up by exporting crude to Europe to be refined before importing back to Ghana.
“They need to get TOR back on stream, and the need for political interference to be stopped holds the key for all for us,” he underscored.
Additionally, he cited the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) failure in executing its mandate.
Mr Amoah explained that BOST is supposed to store huge volumes of fuel and release to the market to level prices and check shortages “without overstretching the already burdened Ghanaian taxpayer”.
However, “we do not see that function of BOST, and they are now focusing on trading…which was not the purpose of the BOST Act but to hold strategic stock”.
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