The Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman, Thomas Ampem Nyarko could no longer bear the brunt of the fuel price hikes on his pocket and that of his colleagues.
And the MP did not mince words when he expressed this sentiment on the floor of the House on Friday, 4th November, 2022 during the presentation of the Business Statement for the ensuing week.
According to him, the last time he went to fill his fuel tank, he spent GHC3000.00 and which he didn’t plan for, and it took the help of one of his colleagues to send him money to top up.
“So Mr. Speaker looking at the kind of business that we have, is it not possible to concentrate, we can stay for six hours a day instead of coming two hours we go back, drive here two hours we go back; pack the day even if it is eight (8) hours, we would be able to stay , do the business like two days and then… That way, we can save like GHC500 on fuel every week.
His suggestion he indicated is in line with the proposal by the former president John Mahama to organisations to allow those who can work from home to do so “because the fuel situation is killing us Mr. Speaker.
However, in a sharp rebuttal, the Majority Leader, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu described the call as an “apocalyptic declaration” from the Member of Parliament, and queried what the impact would be on national productivity, and the effect on GDP. “I think it is an unfortunate call on us that we should be working for just two days in a week”.
He asserts that it is in difficult times that we should work harder to get ourselves out of it.
It used to be the burden of car owners each time fuel prices go up, but now even commuters that patronize commercial vehicles are not spared.
Recent fuel price hikes have resulted in astronomical increases in transport fares, as it appears transport operators keep increasing their fares on daily basis.
Unlike the usual practice, the driver unions seems to have lost control of their members and are unable to regulate how fares are increased.
Ghanamps.com
He clarified that though the call for the removal of the Finance Minister was started by a group of eighty plus members of the Majority, the caucus meeting aligned with the perception of that group, “so it is no longer the course of that eighty plus group” and that it is the agenda of the entire caucus and they are having discussions on that.
Today, as we speak, from the PIAC report, in less than three months (one quarter), government has received over 8bn cedis from our petroleum resources. This is more than it projected for the whole year, so government is making super normal profits”, he emphasised.
The call, he noted, is significant because open defecation is measured taking into account the entire region and not only the Greater Kumasi area; and revealed that open defecation level in Ashanti Region has dropped to 6.1 following the interventions of the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) Sanitation and Water Project (SWP).
“The interesting thing was that we were able to get the people to change their behavior and attitude towards sanitation, we embarked on intense sensitization and various approaches were used with assistant of his behavior and communication expects a lot of strategy was used. What it means is that they engage the people themselves they use the Municipal Assemblies that have the mandate and they ensure that the people who are supposed to enforce the law are the ones on the ground who are known by the people. They are the people they use to promote the project and provided them with the adequate logistics to be able to do exactly what they were supposed to do”.
“I am confidence in the sense that, when you look at the 2020 elections both major parties manifesto was virtually the same, they were all talking about improving the environment and having sanitation Ministry, National Sanitation Authority. If you look at the approach and strategy they did not differ when it comes to sanitation”.
As the country prepares itself for its election in October 2023, the Ho West lawmaker is serving on the Community’s Parliament Legal and Human Right Committee and was part of an eight-member delegation selected by the Speaker to visit Liberia and assess the situation on early warning signals, and triggers of conflict ahead of campaigns towards the country’s October 2023 General Elections.
Speaking to the media after their closed-door meetings with these stakeholders, Mr. Bedzrah indicated that the team was in Liberia to ensure a sound environment for a peaceful General Election in 2023.
“For someone who is struggling to make ends meet, I think the calculation in their mind is not going to be a difficult one; fusel fuel that wins every time less we can ensure that there is proper technology transfer”.
She noted that on her trip to Brussels during the recess, Europe and the rest of the more industralised nations are talking about how Africa needs to stop using fusel fuel; citing example of how Africa needs to create a scenario where “we can export wind energy, solar energy, to part of Europe”.