There’s no justifiable reason for increasing price of LPG, says Gabriel Kumi

The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association of Ghana has slammed the National Petroleum Authority’s (NPA) recent decision to impose an $80 per metric tonne tax on LPG.

The move has been met with fierce criticism from industry leaders, who argue it contradicts the government’s objective of increasing LPG consumption nationwide.

Speaking on the Asaase Radio’s 12 o’clock Report on Tuesday (16 April), Gabriel Kumi, the vice-president of the association questioned the rationale behind the tax.

“We don’t see any justifiable reason that any Ghanaian, any true meaning Ghanaian, can give for increasing the price of LPG,” he stated.

“This is a product that government has set an objective to increase its consumption. So why do you have to keep slapping taxes and levies on the product whose consumption you yourself want to improve?”

Kumi specifically took aim at the justification of using the tax revenue to support bottling plant investments.

“Why would you want to collect money from the poor Ghanaian and give it to a bottling plant to invest in bottling plants and cylinders?”

“They should go to the capital market like any other company and take loans from the banks and invest in these projects,” he said.

Kumi’s comments were bolstered by a recent report from the Institute for Energy Security (IES) highlighting a 4.47% decline in LPG consumption across Ghana.

The report identifies rising prices as a key factor, directly impacting affordability for the everyday consumers.