The suspension of the diesel levy has handed the opposition a fresh line of attack. Maxwell Ofosu Boakye is urging the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to apologise to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the criticism it directed at his administration over fuel price increases.
Appearing on Joy Prime, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator was reacting to government’s decision to suspend the GH¢1 diesel levy (D-Levy) for October and November. The pause is meant to ease the burden on industries and businesses that rely heavily on diesel.
For Ofosu Boakye, the move exposes an inconsistency. The NDC, he argued, spent years faulting the previous government over rising pump prices, yet it is now stepping in to soften those same costs. If the party truly values integrity, he said, it should own up to its earlier position and say sorry to the former president.
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He pointed to forces beyond any one government’s control. Fuel prices, he explained, respond to global developments and external economic conditions, among them the Russia-Ukraine war, which has unsettled energy markets worldwide. Those realities, in his view, should shape how price movements are judged, instead of pinning every increase on whoever happens to be in office.
He also cautioned against turning fuel prices into a political football, stressing that the cost of petroleum at home is closely tied to what happens abroad.
His comments add a political layer to the debate over the levy suspension, one that touches on accountability, the mechanics of fuel pricing, and whether parties apply their economic arguments the same way in government as they do in opposition.