Former President John Dramani Mahama has promised that the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) will be scrapped by the next National Democratic Congress, NDC, government.
According to him, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government is desperately applying burdensome taxes as a means of curing ills associated with their mismanagement of the economy.
Mahama stressed that even though the NDC did not oppose taxation in principle, “we will not be pretentious and couch fanciful slogans to condemn the principle of taxation like the NPP did in the past.”
Speaking at a lecture on the state of the nation on May 2, 2022, he said: “Government’s desperation to tax Ghanaians to get the nation out of the hell hole it has dumped us will not succeed because Government’s own budget proposals show that the e-levy will not make any significant contribution in resolving our problems but would exert an adverse toll on the people of Ghana.
“We in the NDC do not oppose taxation as a principle. We will not be pretentious and couch fanciful slogans to condemn the principle of taxation like the NPP did in the past.
“We are, however, implacably opposed to distortionary and burdensome taxes like the e-levy that only force Ghanaians to endure more suffering.
“A new National Democratic Congress Government, God willing and with the votes of the sovereign people of Ghana – in 2025 – will repeal the E-Levy Act,” he said to cheers from the audience.
The lecture titled, “Ghana at a crossroads,” took place at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra and was attended by top functionaries of the NDC including the party’s 2020 presidential running mate, Naana-Jane Opoku Agyemang.
Mahama stressed that; “even as this government remains fixated with taxing their way out of economic mismanagement, the Akufo-Addo government has been wasteful. They have failed to demonstrate prudence in public financial management.”
Mahama’s views are the same as that of NDC General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who months back stated that even if the then E-Levy Bill was passed, the NDC in government will reverse it.
E-Levy was contained in the 2022 budget statement presented to Parliament in November 2021. The process of passing it into law was marred by chaotic scenes in Parliament.
It was eventually passed in late March and assented to by President Akufo-Addo. Implementation started on May 1, 2022 with the Ghana Revenue Authority promising that initial concerns relating to unlawful deductions will be rectified.
Meanwhile, three Minority MPs are in the Supreme Court seeking a reversal of the law citing procedural challenges with the passage.
Former President John Dramani Mahama on May 2 delivered a widely publicized lecture on the state of the nation.
In a post shared on Facebook on April 29, 2022 announcing the lecture, Mahama said that for Ghana to move in the right direction, it requires a leadership that is attentive to the needs of the citizenry and acts according to law to ensure that these needs are catered for.
The lecture, which took place at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra, was well attended by top NDC functionaries and the rank and file of the party.
Ashantibiz
