He called on the NPA to render an account of their operations to the people of Ghana.
He said the NPA should give a breakdown of the monies it has accumulated and comply with the ruling of an Accra High Court on January, 24. He explained that the ruling by the high court to reduce the fuel prices should overrule the NPA’s decision.
He added that the fuel price increment in February would be in defiance with the court ruling.
“I think the NPA is being too political in this matter. They should account for the money they have collected and they should reduce fuel prices; that’s what the court ordered.”, he stated.
Mr. Kwarteng, speaking on Big Bite on Xfm 95.1, said the ex-refinery differential margin stipulated by the petroleum regulatory body is “illegal” and accused the NPA of misappropriating the monies accrued from petroleum products.
According to him, the National Petroleum Authority is “putting the money somewhere other than the consolidated fund. And I can tell you that there is information and concerns even among the staff of NPA that the money in that account is being used for all kinds of bizarre purposes, entering people’s private pockets.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Alex Mould, said in a press conference yesterday that petroleum product prices will see an increase of 46% to 151% in February.
He explained that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), kerosene and premix fuel will have a high differential margin in prices starting off this February.
Mr. Alex Mould further stated that the fuel subsidy removal from the previous price accumulation of $92 to the current price buildup of $110 per barrel of oil has called for the increase and according to him, the “price increase is the best alternative.”
However, Kwaku Kwarteng says the NPA should be called to order in accordance with the court ruling and should they defy the order, the Development Data will file a lawsuit against the staff of the institution for contempt.
“The regulator has decided to do the wrong thing, the court has exposed them. The court has ordered that they should do the right thing. As a country, we must decide how we want to respond to them.”
“We will do our best. If they do not comply with the court order, we are going to cite them for contempt. We will cite individuals not NPA as an institution [we will cite individuals] for contempt.”
He said the management of the National Petroleum Authority should be held accountable for their actions and inactions, and so called for a restoration of the fuel subsidies. He disputed claims by the NPA boss in support of the fuel price increase and said such attempt is an indication that the NPA is engaging in double standards.
He questioned the logic behind the petroleum authority’s imposition of the ex-refinery differential margin asking “what kind of mathematical logic is that? That you impose a margin and you claim that you will use the margin to reduce the fuel prices. My understanding of a subsidy is that you go and get money from somewhere else and you use it to reduce the price of a particular commodity or service…”
“Now, this idea that you put a margin on the price of something and you use that margin to reduce the price of that same thing so that if you are asked to abolish the margin; you say then the price must come up. What kind of logic is that?”
He said that he will present a petition to Parliament for approval to compel the National Petroleum Authority to reduce the fuel price increase.
Story by Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Xfm 95.1/Accra/Ghana
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