A surge in reports depicting impaired spark plugs has emerged, shedding light on the adverse effects of elevated manganese levels detected in the fuel distributed in Ghana.
On the X platform, users are actively responding to notifications that underscore the heightened concentration of manganese in petroleum products available throughout the nation.
This development arises in the wake of concerns voiced by COPEC, IMANI Africa, and other petroleum consumers regarding recent performance issues encountered in their vehicle engines.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers has taken a decisive stance, threatening legal action against the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in response to the alleged manganese concentration found in fuel products.
Executive Secretary of the Chamber, Duncan Amoah, issued a warning, asserting that the increased manganese levels in the current Ghanaian fuel market are causing damage to car engines, particularly affecting Hyundai vehicles.
“We have conducted checks and found a considerable amount of manganese in some of the products supplied by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) that has proven to be quite detrimental to certain vehicles,” confirmed Duncan Amoah.
Complaints have notably escalated, with petroleum consumers providing evidence showcasing the impact of the elevated manganese concentration in fuel.
On November 23, 2023, a user on the X platform posted an image displaying damaged spark plugs, accompanied by the caption, ‘Shaking my head.’
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, also commented on the situation, stating, “Ghana’s gasoline/petrol & diesel regulator, NPA, says fuels being imported into Ghana nowadays have too much manganese. But they don’t say what has changed. Historically, Ghana imported most of its fuels from markets that ban or heavily limit manganese. Then ‘Gold 4 Oil’ came.”
Another user suggested that due to the introduction of the “Gold-for-Oil” program, the government is importing fuel from Russia, which contains a high amount of manganese (18g/litre), extremely harmful to car engines.
@_edemkojo highlighted, “So, in summary; #Gold4Oil has the government buying fuel from Russia. Russia fuel has high manganese content of 18g/ltre which is causing various problems to your cars. So yes, you will buy cheaper fuel but you will use more than you