The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has launched a pushback against the latest utility tariff hikes, describing the decision as harsh, unjustified and a direct punishment of already struggling households and businesses.

The group says the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) cannot continue demanding more from consumers while ignoring what it calls a deep rot within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited.

In a statement issued on December 8, the Association said the tariff move is simply “unacceptable, unjustifiable, and insensitive.”

FABAG insists the PURC must first demand answers from ECG on how it intends to correct “the cancer of inefficiency, financial waste, and mismanagement” before allowing it to charge Ghanaians more.

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.”

The Association argues that ECG and the Ghana Water Company have become “a real cancer in the economic development of Ghana.”

FABAG warns that ECG “has become the very disease it was created to cure,” insisting that the company now drains productivity and public trust instead of powering economic growth.

FABAG blames chronic structural failures for the crisis in the utility sector. It lists “inefficiencies, losses, mismanagement, corruption, poor workers' attitude, general revenue shortfalls and poor service delivery” as the real reasons power and water companies continue to collapse “under their own weight.”

Yet, FABAG says, instead of fixing the system, authorities have chosen to “punish consumers and businesses with new tariff increases.”

FABAG says consumers cannot continue paying for “ECG’s and the Ghana Water Company's incompetence and corrupt acts.”

The group points to specific concerns, including the fact that government has raised public sector salaries by only 9 per cent while tariffs have gone up by 25.7 per cent.

FABAG also highlights revelations from the Public Accounts Committee, noting that “the ECG overspent its approved budget by GHC 189.2million without authorisation.”

It wants a clear accountability framework to identify those responsible for the unapproved expenditure.

The Association also demands clarity on how procurement spending jumped from under GH¢1 billion to over GH¢8.3 billion in 2023, calling the 700 per cent escalation alarming.

FABAG adds that ECG’s technical and commercial losses remain above 30 per cent, ranking among the worst on the continent, yet “we are unaware of any credible plan that exists to reduce them.”

It warns that businesses are already under intense cost pressure and that the tariff increase will push many firms to shut down, cut jobs, or raise prices.

The Association fears the hikes will worsen food inflation because “food and beverage manufacturing depends heavily on electricity and water for production, storage and distribution.”

FABAG argues that no accountability measures have been enforced to reduce theft or improve customer service.

It insists Ghanaian consumers “should not be paying for inefficiency,” especially when ECG “has repeatedly refused to publish transparent operational audits.”

It adds that the rising cost of products will intensify the cost-of-living crisis and threaten the stability of a major sector that supports thousands of jobs.

FABAG wants the PURC and government to reverse the tariff increases immediately. It says the country “cannot tax or tariff-increase its way out of a broken power and water sectors.”

FABAG insists the real solution is “restructuring, digitisation, accountability and proper revenue management, not burdening struggling businesses with higher costs.”

The Association is demanding an immediate suspension of the tariff adjustment, a full operational audit of ECG and the Ghana Water Company with public disclosure, an aggressive loss-reduction programme, strict enforcement of accountability, and a cost recovery model anchored on efficiency rather than endless increments.

FABAG says it “stands firmly against this tariff increment” and will continue defending 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.”