The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has strongly condemned the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) recent decision to increase electricity tariffs by 9.8% and water tariffs by 15.9%, describing the move as “unacceptable, unjustifiable, and insensitive.”
In a statement issued by FABAG, the association said the increases come at a time when the public and businesses are still awaiting clear and measurable plans from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to address inefficiency, financial waste, and mismanagement.
FABAG described the ECG and GWCL as major obstacles to Ghana’s economic development, noting that the ECG has become “the very disease it was created to cure,” draining productivity and trust instead of promoting growth.
According to the association, chronic mismanagement, corruption, poor staff attitudes, revenue shortfalls, and inadequate service delivery are the real reasons why these utilities continue to struggle.
The association highlighted that while government approved a 9% salary increase for workers, it simultaneously approved a combined 25.7% tariff hike for electricity and water—a decision it called contradictory and unfair. FABAG further criticized ECG for overspending GHC 189.2 million without parliamentary approval and for a procurement surge from under GHC 1 billion to over GHC 8.3 billion in 2023, representing nearly 700% overspending.
The association also drew attention to ECG’s technical and commercial losses, which exceed 30%, placing it among the worst-performing utilities in Africa. Despite these figures, FABAG said there is no credible plan in place to address these losses. The group warned that the tariff increases would place additional strain on businesses already facing high operational costs, potentially forcing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to close, reduce employment, or raise prices.
FABAG further noted that the hikes would exacerbate food inflation, since the food and beverage industry relies heavily on electricity and water for production, storage, and distribution. The lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms, including the absence of operational audits and measures to reduce theft or improve customer service, remain critical concerns for the association.
In response, FABAG is calling on PURC and the government to immediately suspend the tariff increases and instead implement meaningful reforms. The association demands full operational audits of both ECG and GWCL, public disclosure of findings, aggressive programs to reduce technical losses, enforcement of accountability measures including prosecution for internal theft and illegal connections, and adoption of a cost-recovery model based on efficiency rather than continuous tariff hikes.
FABAG concluded by asserting its commitment to defending the interests of its members and the wider Ghanaian public, emphasizing that Ghanaians deserve power and water sectors that work efficiently, rather than surviving by punishing consumers.
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