The New Patriotic Party’s 2024 parliamentary candidate for Adentan, Akosua Manu, has taken a swipe at the President John Dramani Mahama’s administration over what she described as a “draconian and farcical” dumsor levy. 

Speaking on Channel One TV on Thursday, 5 June, Madam Manu criticised the NDC’s handling of energy sector challenges, accusing the party of hypocrisy and lack of transparency in its approach.

She condemned the manner in which the so-called dumsor levy was introduced under the Mahama administration, claiming it lacked proper consultation and was forced on Ghanaians without adequate stakeholder engagement. 

“It was introduced in darkness, quite literally and figuratively,” she said. 

“Ghanaians woke up to a tax that was neither debated publicly nor explained transparently.”

Madam Manu also recalled the fierce resistance the NDC mounted against the Akufo-Addo government’s Electronic Levy (E-levy), describing their stance at the time as disingenuous. 

“It is the height of political inconsistency for a party that vilified the E-levy to now turn around and defend a levy imposed without dialogue. Where was the stakeholder engagement then?” she asked.

While calling for honest national conversations about energy financing, she emphasised the need for fairness and consistency in political discourse.