The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to absorb part of recent electricity and water tariff increases to prevent households and businesses from shouldering the full burden.
“Can we get funds to subsidize or to assist Ghana Water or ECG so the entire burden is not shifted to the consumer?” The union’s vice chair, Dr. Tweneboa Kodua, asked in an interview with Citi FM on Monday, December 8, 2025.
He emphasized that the union does not oppose the efforts of the Ghana Water Company or the Electricity Company of Ghana to secure resources necessary for effective operations.
“We are not doubting that Ghana Water or ECG need funds to improve their operations,” he said. “But everything should be done in the context of the law.”
Dr. Tweneboa Kodua explained that the TUC had earlier engaged the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in a stakeholder meeting in September to discuss proposed tariff adjustments.
“We made it clear that we would need a proper tabling of the issues so we can look at them at our poverty level. So we agreed there would be another meeting to look at the major points they presented,” he noted.
However, he expressed dissatisfaction that PURC announced new tariffs on December 2, before the scheduled follow-up meeting on December 8.
“We received notices from PURC that they were going to engage us on 8 December, only for them to announce a new tariff on December 2 when you had given us an indication that you were going to engage us on December 8. We find this unacceptable and not fair to our social dialogue partnership,” he said.
The TUC vice chairperson highlighted that PURC considers several variables in adjusting tariffs, including inflation, fuel costs, exchange rates, and operational expenses.
“Let us look at these variables and see which ones should go to the government and which ones should be pushed to the consumer,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the impact of the new tariffs on workers, noting that a 9 percent wage increase for January 2026 could be wiped out by a 15 percent water increase and a 9 percent rise in electricity charges.
“You give us 9 percent with the left hand, and with the right hand you are bringing us 15 percent water and 9 percent ECG,” he said.
“What is the impact of this on the 9 percent wage increment? This is a fair question that should be analysed,” he added.
Dr. Tweneboa Kodua warned that allowing PURC to make unilateral decisions without stakeholder input would undermine the law and social dialogue.
“If you allow this to happen, what we are saying is that from now on the PURC will have the sole mandate to impose and decide without anyone making input. And that is not what the law or the framers of the law had in mind,” he argued.
On acceptable tariff increases, he said these should be determined after technical committee deliberations considering all funding options, including government subsidies.
