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Utility Tariffs Likely To Go Up In July – IES
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Electricity and water tariffs are likely to go up in July this year, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has projected.
Nana Amoasi VIII, Energy Analyst and Executive Director of the Institute said “from all indications, there will be an upward review of the current tariff.”
He said: “We must brace ourselves for electricity tariff increment so we can save both the distribution and transmission grid from collapsing and have some reliable power supply.”
He added: “It’s quite unfortunate that it has become a pressing issue to bite at this time when Ghanaians are going through tough times, but it’s still necessary to pay a little more for the utilities to invest to save the grid from collapsing.”
The Energy Analyst noted that Ghana had not seen any major tariff increases in the last seven years, yet the operational cost of electricity continued to rise, hampering the work of utilities.
He was of the view that if electricity consumers were not made to pay a little more to enable the service provider to invest, “… the power system may collapse…”
He said: “Between 2015 and now, electricity tariff has not seen any significant rise. Meanwhile, the operational cost of the utilities has been rising year on year partly due to foreign exchange losses through obsolete equipment and power lines, and increasing cost of borrowing to finance their operations.
The IES Executive Director called on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to be prepared to work more to stop the increasing commercial losses they incurred.
He said: “They should make sure that the sacrifices that Ghanaians are being asked to make by paying more for electricity in such a challenging time reflect an increased reliability in power supply within the shortest possible time.”
Dr Ishmeal Ackah, Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulation Commission (PURC), told the Ghana News Agency that the Commission, together with key stakeholders were reviewing the country’s electricity and water tariffs.
He said as to the current tariff being increased, reduced or maintained: “We’re all asking the same question.”
Source: GNA
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the government to place all 54,985 candidates affected by the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) placement exercise in schools and publish the final outcome.
The party says the government must ensure that the affected candidates secure actual school places rather than merely being allowed to access the self-placement portal.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party expressed concern about the situation facing the candidates.
The NPP said the government had announced that 53,887 of the affected candidates could use the self-placement system after initially being told that they had not qualified for secondary school.
It, however, argued that access to the portal did not guarantee that candidates would secure their preferred schools or programmes.
“Ghanaian parents and candidates will judge the resolution of the challenge by one thing only: how many of the original 54,985 are sitting in a classroom, not how many were allowed to open a website,” the statement noted.
The party said the government’s own figures showed that the country had 859,828 declared vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.
It explained that the main challenge was the concentration of demand in a small number of highly subscribed schools.
The NPP noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools had 76,417 declared vacancies.
It therefore called on the government to explore ways to improve schools with available spaces, including providing teachers, laboratories and better programmes.
The party urged the government to use the 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme to absorb candidates who remained without placements.
The NPP further called for clarification of the rule and pass mark used for this year’s placement exercise, saying parents were entitled to know the standard before their children sat the examination.
It urged the government to take urgent action to ensure that the affected candidates were not left behind in the transition to secondary education.
By: Jacob Aggrey
General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has filed his nomination to contest the position of General Secretary again as the party begins its rebuilding efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
He was accompanied by party stalwarts and supporters who were in high spirits, expressing confidence that he is the right person to hold the position.
Speaking after filing his nomination, Mr Kodua Frimpong assured the rank and file of the party that he would not disappoint them.
“I can assure you that the faith the rank and file of the party have had in me, I will never disappoint them,” he said.
He also pledged to run a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks.
“I can assure you that our internal campaign will be devoid of personal attacks,” he told his fellow contestants and the rank and file of the party as he seeks to retain his position.
His tenure has seen the party through the 2024 general elections, where the NPP lost power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after eight years in government.
The party is currently in a rebuilding phase, with internal elections scheduled to elect new national executives to lead its reorganization towards the 2028 polls.
The General Secretary position is considered one of the most influential in the party’s administrative structure, responsible for the day-to-day running of the party secretariat and implementation of party decisions.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
