Ghana Water has asked for a 280% increase in tariffs. Predictably, the loudest complaints are coming from the rich, those with houses connected to pipes, those who water their lawns and fill their swimming pools at rates subsidised by the nation. They cry foul, but they conveniently forget that they are the ones who have enjoyed the cheapest water in Ghana for decades.

Let’s get real: even if Ghana Water triples tariffs today, their water will still be cheaper than what most poor Ghanaians are forced to buy every single day. Visit any slum or roadside stand and watch the poor pay by the yellow gallon and bucket. A family in Nima or Ashaiman pays more per litre than a homeowner in East Legon with running taps. That is the obscene reality.

The so-called “middle class” love to posture as victims of government insensitivity, yet they are insulated from the harshest form of water poverty. Their complaints are not about survival, they are about convenience. They bathe their dogs with treated tap water while other Ghanaians share muddy ponds with pigs and cows just to stay alive.

Now galamsey has poisoned our rivers and driven Ghana Water into massive losses. We have to face the truth: clean, treated water is expensive to produce. Pretending otherwise is intellectual dishonesty. But instead of demanding action against galamsey or fixing distribution inequities, the rich prefer to whine about tariffs while sipping bottled water and showering in treated tap water the poor can only dream of.

If this country is serious about fairness, then the debate must shift. The poor must never again pay more for dirty bucket water than the rich do for treated pipe water. Until then, let’s call the outrage of the privileged what it really is: hypocrisy wrapped in entitlement.