John Jinapor, Spokesperson for Vice President John Mahama, says he is happy Ghanaians have realised that not all things politicians say on campaign platforms make sense. According to him, it has been long overdue for the people to read between what politicians say and what they actually do in practice. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) made tariff increases a major campaign issue during the 2008 General Elections – the party promised to reduce fuel prices drastically when voted into power but did the exact opposite. The prices of other items such as sachet water, electricity and water have also soured up amid demands from various pressure groups for reductions But the former chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Mr Kwame Pianim believes consumers must pay economic prices for energy. Mr Pianim, who resigned in disagreement with the then NPP government over whether or not Ghanaians should pay the full cost of water and electricity they consume, advocated for full recovery from consumers while the government opted to subsidize consumption. On Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme Thursday, Mr Jinapor shared the same position as the former PURC chairman, saying “if we subsidise commodity A, we have to put taxes on commodity B to balance it”, admitting that the root cause of problems in the energy sector spans from undue politicisation of tariff increases. He was hopeful that politicians would not promise to reduce tariffs in the upcoming elections because it is virtually not practicable to do so. A co-panellist on the programme, Manhyia MP Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, debunked suggestions that consumers do not pay realistic prices for energy consumption, asking why consumers would be made to pay for the inefficiencies of the electricity company - the ECG's inability to account for 30% of energy because it is misused by some consumers. He described as insulting the government’s 1% reduction on electricity tariffs for residential consumers, advising that the government mandates every citizen to use CFL bulbs to reduce the total electricity consumption in the country. By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana