The Member of Parliament for North Tongu has urged members of the ruling government to remain sensitive to issues affecting citizens.

He suggested that, with the existing economic difficulties Ghanaians are facing, it is unacceptable that the government's posture appears to be that of one that only listens to Ghanaians during election periods, and then turns a deaf ear afterwards.

The North Tongu MP believes that the “sensitivity levels of Ghanaian political leaders must remain the same before and after elections.”

Spelling his concerns out in a Facebook post on Monday, May 9, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa cited the “unbridled price hikes, excruciating cost of fuel, 20% increase in transport fares, proposals by ECG for a 100% tariff adjustment, historic unemployment at 13.4% and a draconian E-Levy” as some evidence of suffocating polices Ghanaians are enduring.

He noted how these existing policies would not have been tolerated were they implemented in an election year and expressed disappointment with how the current government responded to citizens' concerns, and this he believes shows that the sensitivity levels of political leaders has dwindled over time.

Due to this observation, Mr Ablakwa suggested that Ghana should hold national elections every year.

Mr Ablakwa noted that unlike the Akufo-Addo-led government, Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, continues to cushion Hungarians from the hikes in fuel and food prices by placing a cap on the items, despite winning the April election.

On May 7, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union Transport (GPRTU) directed that transport fares be increased by 20 per cent, and since its implementation, Ghanaians have lamented the hardship they are going through.

Before transport fares were increased, public transport operators called on government to remove some petroleum taxes, but President Akufo-Addo said his government will not remove taxes on petroleum products.

According to the President, the removal of these taxes is not prudent as it would lead to the government missing out on some 4billion cedis in revenue.

“At this time, when we are determined to expand Government revenues in order to increase our capacity to finance our own development, can we afford to reduce tax revenues by four billion cedis?” he quizzed.

He made this known in his May Day speech.

While contention on increased transport fares lingers, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is demanding a 148% increase in tariff.

The proposal by ECG, submitted to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), wants the adjustment to cover the period 2019 and 2022.

Source: backend.theindependentghana.comÂ