Kerosene is now being sold in the rural areas at prices ranging from ?60,000 to ?80,000 per gallon. This follows the acute shortage of the commodity not only in the hinterland but also even in some towns near the capital city of Accra.

For instance, the commodity sells at ?60,000 per gallon at Kasoa, the fast-growing market-town, lying westwards of Accra. The price at Mankron-Nkwanta, Kwanyako in the Agona East District hovers between ?60,000 and ?70,000 a gallon.

With these developments, one can well guess how far the price could have gone by now at villages in the Brong-Ahafo and the three Northern Regions, where the price of a bottle of the commodity, the villagers? companion, has in recent times been matching that of the official price for a gallon at the filling stations in the cities and towns.

Meanwhile, no official explanation has been given for the problem being created for the rural folk, most of whom spend the nights in thick darkness, with their babies crouched in their bosom.