Some private and commercial drivers in Kumasi are complaining about the reluctance of some fuel station managers to bring down the prices of petroleum products as announced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) on Saturday, November 1, 2008. The NPA announced a reduction in fuel prices of between eight and 13 per cent.
In view of this, the Manager of the Asafo Goil Fuel Station in Kumasi, Mr George Ayisi Boateng, has challenged private and commercial drivers operating in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs to be courageous and initiate legal action against managers of fuel stations who sell their products above the stipulated prices.
He said while managers of fuel filling and service stations in the Kumasi metropolis were quick to adjust prices moments after the regulatory board announced increases in fuel prices to maximise profit, they were always reluctant to reduce prices anytime price reduction was announced.
Mr Boateng was reacting to concerns raised by some drivers about the reluctance of some fuel station managers to reduce the fuel prices.
He told the Daily Graphic that unlike some products whose prices were dictated by market forces, fuel prices were always controlled.
On Saturday, November 1, 2008 the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced a reduction in fuel prices of between eight and 13 per cent.
According to the NPA , the prices of premium fuel was to go down from GH¢1.18p to GH¢1.06 per litre, representing a decrease of 10.02 per cent, and kerosene from Gh¢1.13p per litre to GH¢1.02 a percentage of 10.13.
Gas oil was also reduced by 8.46 per cent from GH¢1.20p per litre to GH¢1.09 per litre and premix went down from approximately GH73.5p per litre to GH66.1p per litre, a decrease of 10.02 per cent.
While a few managers in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs responded quickly to the new directives and adjusted their prices to satisfy the needs of their consumers, others refused to do so. They claim that their technicians had not adjusted their pumps to enable them to charge the new prices.
Mr Ayisi Boateng expressed concern about the refusal of the fuel managers to adjust their prices and continued to charge the old prices.
" As soon as prices were adjusted upwards, you see their attendants using calculators to adjust their prices at a time the so called technicians had not adjusted their pumps, but I wonder why they cannot do the same thing when prices are reduced , " he noted.
Mr Ayisi Boateng attributed the attitudes of those managers who were reluctant to reduce their prices to the fact that the consuming public had always ignored their penchant for profit maximisation, stressing " it was time the public brought the recalcitrant managers to order by initiating court action against them.
He said the Ghanaian concept of always accepting things without questioning had been the contributory factor of entrenching corruption in the country .
"The time has come for individuals to speak against those who take undue advantage of others to make money" he stated, adding " while the public is eager to speak against perceived corruption against some government officials, they are reluctant to do so against individuals who indulge in massive corruption at the expense of the state".
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