Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, has supported calls for openness in the use of money collected from the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).
The E-Levy is one of the sources the government was expecting would assist it in generating much-needed cash, but data from government quarters shows that it is functioning appallingly.
Leading NPP member Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko recently stated that the tax policy has barely produced 10% of expected revenue since its adoption, leading some to urge for its repeal.
Others on the other hand have advocated more transparency with how the funds from the tax are used to engender increased support
Speaking to Citi Business News, on the issue of transparency, Dr. Ashigbey advocated the rollout of measures and strategies that will inform people of how their taxes are being used.
“I think it is fair to ask that if we’ve decided that we are taking this tax for a particular purpose, we are able to go back and see if it is being used for that particular purpose. For me, as a corporate governance student, I think that transparency and providing information, by the people who are in positions of responsibility is important.”
“And I don’t think we do enough of that. It is something we need to do constantly if we want to take out all the clouds and perceptions of suspicion. If we could even have a website that customers can go to find out with regards to how much is coming in and what the funds are being used for, it will be helpful,” he added.
