 has sparked widespread public outrage, with legal practitioner Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers describing the move as “purely insensitive and gravely unfair” to already burdened Ghanaians.){kind=link}
The recent upward adjustment in electricity and water tariffs announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has sparked widespread public outrage, with legal practitioner Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers describing the move as “purely insensitive and gravely unfair” to already burdened Ghanaians.
In a strongly worded Facebook post, Mr. Brako-Powers criticized both the PURC and the government for what he sees as a blatant disregard for the plight of ordinary citizens, especially at a time when parts of the country are grappling with power outages—popularly referred to as “dumsor”—and inconsistent water supply.
“Why is it easy for Ghanaian governments to transfer costs to the consumer when they know the services rendered are not of the best quality any sane person would expect from a service provider?” he asked.
The PURC, in a press release dated April 11, announced a 14.75% increase in the average end-user tariff for electricity and a 4.02% hike in water tariffs, as part of its scheduled quarterly tariff review for the first and second quarters of 2025. The Commission cited factors including the cedi-dollar exchange rate, inflation trends, fuel costs, and changes in the electricity generation mix as key determinants in the adjustment process.
However, Brako-Powers believes the Commission has consistently failed in its responsibility to ensure quality service delivery, accusing it of being more focused on price increases than consumer satisfaction.
“All that PURC ever cares about is needless and unnecessary utilities increment without bothering itself with the quality of service being provided to consumers,” he stated.
He further called on President John Dramani Mahama to intervene and reverse the tariff increases, arguing that the timing of the hike is both economically and morally wrong.
“This is not the right time to make the kind of price adjustments the PURC announced since we’re living with dumsor and inconsistent water supply since January,” he wrote.