Claim: Afenyo-Markin has endorsed GH¢1 fuel levy recently passed by Parliament
Source: Social media (X, Facebook)
Verdict: Misleading
Researched by Alfa Shaban
A video circulating on social media platforms, including X, suggests the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has endorsed the GH¢1 fuel levy passed by Parliament, barely weeks after his side boycotted the passage of the levy.
In the 55-second video, Afenyo-Markin is heard saying: “You are using the levy to address the dumsor problem because of the challenge we have there. I shall conclude by saying that this promise made by the energy minister is something that all of us should embrace.
Colleagues, we may talk politics, but the energy crisis, if it starts it may bite all of us. In fact, if we don’t deal with it now, it would affect the economy in general, so I believe that the minister must be encouraged to walk the talk. All of us should get on board, so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand to necessitate another levy being introduced.” (Other videos here, here, here, and here.)
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A caption by one of the sharers identified as Annan Perry on X reads: “Minority Leader Afenyo Markin, in endorsing the amended ESLA, urged his colleagues and party people to put politics aside and look at the nation so that President John Mahama can fix the energy sector once and for all.”
The video, posted on June 13, 2025, had been viewed 79,000 times and garnered 98 comments, 428 reposts, and 2,300 likes at the time of filing this report.
NB: The reach of the video is the basis for this fact-check, especially because the Minority Leader has been vocal about the opposition of the Minority to the levy.
Did Afenyo-Markin endorse the GH¢1 fuel levy?
Fact-check
GhanaFact traced the original video to the Parliamentary proceedings on June 13, 2025.
Per the livestream on the official YouTube page of Parliament, the Minority Leader made the said comment as part of his submission in response to the Majority Leader’s presentation on the order of business for the ensuing week (starting 47 minutes, 20 seconds onwards).
During his presentation, Afenyo-Markin addressed issues on health, trade, employment, and the Energy Minister’s plans to undertake reforms at ECG, adding that it was a laudable and necessary move to ensure accountability in the key utility subsector.
He also lamented how inefficiencies had led to recent tariff adjustments and the introduction of the GH¢1 fuel levy, which he referred to as ‘dumsor levy.’
In response to the terminology “Dumsor Levy”, the Majority Chief Whip, standing on a point of order, submitted that Parliament had at no point passed a legislation known as the dumsor levy, adding: “So he (Afenyo-Markin) should withdraw and apologise, amend the records and proceed,” the Chief Whip added.
Afenyo-Markin conceded, stating: “For the records, I was referring to the Energy Recovery Levy the government introduced, but on the street the people say dumsor levy… I would use the appropriate terminology. I am sorry about that…
“If I make a mistake and my colleague is correcting me that I don’t have to use dumsor levy here, that one, when we get to the radio station, we use the ordinary man’s language,” he said.
After this statement comes the 55-second video, which is widely circulating as an endorsement of the government’s levy to solve the dumsor problem.
From the above, nowhere did the Minority Leader endorse the fuel levy. His comment was generally about reforms at the Electricity Company of Ghana. His reference to the levy was to emphasise the point that if these reforms are not pursued, it opens the gates for tariff increments and imposition of levies like the fuel levy.
Also, on June 14, 2025, the Minority Leader issued a statement to dismiss the circulating videos.
“Let me state unequivocally: at no point did I endorse the imposition of the Dumsor Levy of GH₵1 on every litre of petroleum products on the night of Tuesday 3rd June, 2025. What I did—and will continue to do—was to call for urgent reforms at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), reforms which the Energy Minister himself promised would be brought before Parliament,” the statement read.
Verdict
Therefore, the claim that Afenyo-Markin had supported the GH¢1 fuel levy is misleading.
NOTE: GhanaFact has reached out to Annan Perry for comments on his claim, his response will be incorporated into the script as and when.
