Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee and MP for Tano North, Dr Gideon Boako, has challenged the current government’s justification of recent electricity tariff hikes, urging them not to attribute the increases to the ongoing IMF programme.

He argued that under similar IMF conditions, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration managed electricity tariffs more efficiently and in the interest of the Ghanaian people.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, 12 April, Dr Boako outlined a comparative analysis of electricity tariff adjustments between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and NPP administrations.

According to him, from 2009 to 2016 under the NDC, electricity tariffs cumulatively increased by 294.6%, averaging 36.8% annually.

In contrast, he said, the NPP, from 2017 to 2024, recorded a cumulative increase of 57.45%, averaging just 7.2% annually.

Dr Boako further pointed out that, despite these high increments under the NDC, the country was plagued with “dumsor,” a prolonged period of erratic power supply.

He contrasted this with the NPP era under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, during which he claimed power supply remained relatively stable, even with minimal tariff adjustments.

He criticised the current administration, saying, “The NDC government that promised to reduce the cost of living has, in their first four months, increased electricity tariffs by 14.75%.”

He concluded with a strong caution: “Let this not be blamed on any IMF programme because the data above shows that under the same IMF programmes, the NPP managed the electricity tariffs better.”