Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi and Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has called on the government to seize the opportunity created by the recent suspension of the Energy Sector Levy to initiate a comprehensive review of the country’s fuel-related revenue structure.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, the former Information Minister welcomed the suspension but described it as only a temporary relief that fails to address the root of Ghana’s fuel price crisis.
“What we are drawing attention to is not just the suspension of the levy, because that levy is unnecessary,” he stated. “We are also drawing attention to the fact that the government should take advantage of this window, which has suspended [the levy] even while we are calling for scrapping.”
According to Oppong Nkrumah, halting the levy should not be an end in itself, but rather a chance to conduct a long-overdue evaluation of how fuel levies are structured and their overall impact on the economy and ordinary Ghanaians.
“Government should take advantage of this period not just to say we have halted it temporarily, but to do a substantive, comprehensive review of our revenue lines as a country, particularly the fuel levy,” he emphasized.
His comments follow the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) announcement postponing the implementation of Tariff Interpretation Order (TIO) No. 2025/004, which relates to the Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1141). The decision was made after consultations with the Ministry of Finance and major stakeholders in the petroleum industry.
The suspension affects the planned increase in the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy (ESSDRL) on selected petroleum products, which was initially scheduled to take effect on June 16, 2025.
The Energy Sector Levy has become a lightning rod for public frustration, with critics saying it contributes to the rising cost of fuel and imposes an undue financial burden on struggling citizens.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s intervention is expected to intensify the national conversation around fuel pricing and may pressure the government to rethink the sustainability and fairness of current fuel taxation policies.
