The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has strongly opposed the recent hikes in utility tariffs, calling the move harsh, unwarranted, and a direct blow to households and businesses already under strain.
The Association argues that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) cannot continue to demand more from consumers while overlooking what it describes as deep-rooted problems within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited.
In a statement released on December 8, FABAG described the tariff adjustment as “unacceptable, unjustifiable, and insensitive.”
The group insists that before PURC approves any further charges, it must first demand accountability from ECG on how it plans to address “the cancer of inefficiency, financial waste, and mismanagement.”
According to FABAG, “The PURC cannot just sweep this cancer under the carpet. The ECG’s cancer is known, and the symptoms are very visible, and what Ghanaians and businesses are waiting for is how the ECG intend to cure its cancer rather than tariff increases.”
FABAG further contends that ECG and the Ghana Water Company have become “a real cancer in the economic development of Ghana.”
The Association warns that ECG “has become the very disease it was created to cure,” stressing that the company now drains productivity and public trust instead of fueling economic growth.
FABAG blames long-standing structural weaknesses for the crisis in the utility sector, citing “inefficiencies, losses, mismanagement, corruption, poor workers’ attitude, general revenue shortfalls and poor service delivery” as the underlying causes of the collapse of power and water companies “under their own weight.”
Instead of fixing these systemic failures, FABAG says authorities have chosen to “punish consumers and businesses with new tariff increases.”
The Association insists that consumers cannot continue footing the bill for “ECG’s and the Ghana Water Company’s incompetence and corrupt acts.”
It highlights specific concerns, including the disparity between government’s 9 per cent increase in public sector wages and the 25.7 per cent rise in tariffs. FABAG also pointed to findings from the Public Accounts Committee, which revealed that “the ECG overspent its approved budget by GHC 189.2million without authorisation.”
The Association is demanding a clear accountability framework to identify those responsible for the unauthorized expenditure.
FABAG also questions how procurement costs skyrocketed from under GH¢1 billion to over GH¢8.3 billion in 2023, describing the 700 per cent surge as alarming.
It notes that ECG’s technical and commercial losses remain above 30 per cent—among the worst in Africa—yet “we are unaware of any credible plan that exists to reduce them.”
The Association warns that businesses already facing high operating costs will be forced to shut down, cut jobs, or raise prices due to the tariff hikes. It fears this will worsen food inflation since “food and beverage manufacturing depends heavily on electricity and water for production, storage and distribution.”
FABAG argues that no meaningful accountability measures have been implemented to curb theft or improve customer service. It insists that Ghanaian consumers “should not be paying for inefficiency,” especially when ECG “has repeatedly refused to publish transparent operational audits.”
The Association cautions that rising product costs will deepen the cost-of-living crisis and destabilize a sector that sustains thousands of jobs.
FABAG is calling on PURC and government to immediately reverse the tariff increases, stressing that Ghana “cannot tax or tariff-increase its way out of a broken power and water sectors.”
The Association insists the real solution lies in “restructuring, digitisation, accountability and proper revenue management, not burdening struggling businesses with higher costs.”
It is demanding an immediate suspension of the tariff adjustment, a comprehensive operational audit of ECG and the Ghana Water Company with public disclosure, a robust loss-reduction programme, strict accountability enforcement, and a cost recovery model based on efficiency rather than endless increments.
FABAG concludes that it “stands firmly against this tariff increment” and will continue to defend the interests of its members and the wider public because “Ghana deserves power and water sectors that work, but not those that survive by punishing its consumers.”
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