Growing up, the story of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans was one that I read and watched as a movie over and over again. It was a wistful story filled with love, betrayal, revenge and destruction. Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon, Odyssey and Paris etched their names in history, forever to be remembered.
“Beware of the Greeks and their gifts.” The ancient adage, born from the myth of the Trojan Horse, presented as a gift to the people of Troy, warns us that not all gifts are beneficial ones—some are snares.
In the life of modern Ghanaian politics, this lesson is made real again. While Ghanaians are rejoicing over the seeming value appreciation of the cedi, a slight reduction in diesel prices, and a calm in the inflation storm, there is a darker reality hidden in the background: the quiet, one-sided assent to a new GHS 1 per litre Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2025 which was submitted to parliament under a certificate of urgency.
The Bill recommended an upward adjustment in the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy to raise additional revenue, support the payment of the energy sector debt, and resolve the country’s power challenges. This tax, which was imposed by the NDC government in the face of no advice or approval from the minority in Parliament, is not so much fiscal opportunism—but political chicanery at its most refined.
In this article, we open up the personality of this supposed “gift,” reveal the deception it masks, and compare it to the very same E-Levy the NDC once fought against. We conclude by outlining a roadmap for resisting this kind of political bait-and-switch in the future.
The new Trojan horse: a stronger Cedi, cheaper diesel—and a draining levy
Ghanaians have been presented with a refrain of good news over the last few weeks: the cedi is stabilizing against the dollar, prices of commodities on the market are gradually receding in response to the fall of the dollar, diesel prices fell modestly, and inflation, while still present, is no longer running amok.
These economic “blessings” have been vociferously heralded by the state agencies and pro-government media, filling the air with a scent of comeback and optimism. In our doing the praise for progress, however, there has been a fatal cunning of hand that we have been dealt with.
Without parliamentary approval of the minority and whiles Ghanaians were yet asleep, and in the absence of nationally consultative information, the government made a surreptitious insertion of a flat GHS 1 Energy Sector Recovery Levy, applied across every litre of fuel one purchases —regardless of income, consumption, or household size.
This is the Trojan Horse. While citizens celebrate macroeconomic “triumphs,” they are unconsciously opening the gates to a policy that imposes more financial strain on the ordinary Ghanaian, increases the fiscal space of the government without accountability, and contravenes the NDC’s own earlier criticism against such levies.
E-Levy vs. D-Levy: The Mirror of Hypocrisy
Let us recall that in 2022, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), with a 1% tax deduction on transactions exceeding GHS 100, the NDC described it as a regressive, anti-poor, and exploitative policy. This was met with walkouts and opposition MPs’ protests. The people were mobilized to oppose what was considered people’s betrayal. If I may quote the words as spewed by Hon Sam George, the MP for Ningo-Prampram and the current Minister for Communication, in his description of the then government after the passage of the E-levy.
He said “It is a government of liars, government of dishonest and insensitive people. It is a government that has lost touch with the people of this country. It is a government that lies to its own people. It is a government that is insensitive, that is callous. This is an incompetent, clueless, arrogant bunch of people running this country into a ditch. The people of Ghana are going to show them the exit sooner than later.”
I was angry. Ghanaians were angry.
But in 2025, the once adopted sanctimonious stance by the NDC, that vehemently criticized the E-levy as a political genocide and governmental machiavelli, has replicated and exacted the worst form of it. The same NDC has levied a GHS 1 charge on every litre of fuel, regardless of class or consumption, dodged debate with the parliamentary minority, and packaged it as an act of patriotism to address energy sector challenges—exactly the manner in which the NPP brought the E-Levy.
A litre of fuel cost GHS 12, thus where an individual purchases 10 litres of fuel at the cost of GHS 120.00 that individual will have to pay an extra GHS 10.00, and yet some section of the public are hailing this.
The contradictions are staggering. NDC’s stand in 2022 when in opposition was opposed to flat taxes on the poor, called for public consultation, criticized E-Levy as betrayal, promised tax relief and restraint when voted into power. NDC’s policy in 2025 now in power, proposed a flat energy levy, imposed the levy without minority involvement, added another burden to fuel prices.
It’s a masterclass in political amnesia and government by deceit with zero transparency and no accountability whatsoever. At the center of this issue is the debt in the power sector, which has been quoted as going into billions. But most basic questions go unanswered:
Where are audited records of the debt?
Who were the individuals who gained from the outrageous agreements that blew up these debts?
What austerity measures has the government implemented before transferring the burden to the people?
Rather than dealing with the institutional rot that led to the energy crisis, the government taxed people to fill holes in a sinking boat—without telling them who dug the holes.
The Political cost: eroding democracy
Less objectionable than the tax itself is the manner of its passage. The NDC, which had promoted participatory politics and parliamentary scrutiny, shut out Parliament’s minority—a dangerous trend in any democracy. This is not leadership. It is convenience rule.
In order to combat these malicious cycles of deception, Ghanaians must get political antibodies. This is how:
1. Build Political Memory – The people must remember what the parties promised before assuming power and hold them to account when they deviate from such commitments.
2. Demand Inclusive Legislative Process – There should be no tax or levy imposed except through plenary parliamentary discussion and popular participation.
3. Call for Targeted, Progressive Taxation – Flat taxes hurt the poor. New policy must be equitable.
4. Affirm Civil Society Monitoring – Civil society groups must remain vigilant advocacy no matter governance.
5. Call for Independent Energy Sector Audits – Any new tax must come prior to a thorough and transparent audit.
A dangerous gift with a familiar wrapping
The NDC’s Energy Sector Recovery Levy, introduced in the name of economic recovery and without parliamentary assent, is a Trojan horse covered with dishonesty. As the Trojans welcomed the wooden horse, the majority of Ghanaians are welcoming economic relief at face value—without knowing the peril within. Let us not be fooled by quick fixes. Recovery for the economy is welcome—but not as bait to barter off accountability, justice, and public trust.
In the end, it is not so much the Greeks we have to watch out for—but the Ghanaians who forget the history lessons of their own.
This piece is written by a private legal practitioner who goes by the name Jericho
