The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has questioned justification for the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) recent utility tariff hikes.
PURC recently announced a 14.75% increase in electricity tariffs and a 4.02% rise in water charges, effective May 3, 2025.
The PURC said the upward adjustments follow several economic and operational indicators, including the exchange rate between the Ghana cedi and the US dollar. It also cited inflation projections, fuel costs, and the hydro-thermal generation mix.
GUTA, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Alpha A. Shaban, expressed worry about the Commission’s reason stated for the adjustment and labeled it as something that “do not hold water.”
“We appreciate the fact that life is not static, and changes are inevitable when necessary, but not at the whim of any particular body,” it stated.
GUTA continued and entreated the PURC to focus on eliminating wastage in the management of electricity and water services rather than inflating the cost of purchases and other charges for individual benefit to the detrimemnt of the state.
“It appears the public sector is now being turned into a gold mine, where every public or civil servant takes advantage to enrich themselves within a short period of time,” parts of the statement said.
GUTA is therefore calling on the government to clamp down on misappropriation and corruption within state institutions.
“We appeal to the government to focus more attention on this negative attitude to public service, identify all those who steal, divert, misappropriate, misapply, and/or loot state funds or property, and deal with them decisively to recover all the stolen properties of the state,” GUTA stressed.
