Isaac Adongo, the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has taken a jab at Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta over the government’s controversial e-levy proposal.
According to him, the Minister’s recent statement that the government is engaging stakeholders on the tax to reach a conclusion on the levy is merely a political ploy with no real intention of scrapping or reducing the tax, as many Ghanaians have demanded.
He told Eyewitness News that the Minister is playing ‘hide-and-seek’ on the issue and that the government does not require the support of the Minority in Parliament to make a decision that is beneficial to Ghanaians.
“Beyond the Minority, what does he have for the good people of Ghana? The country is not split into Minority and Majority. You don’t need the Minority before determining what is appropriate for the people of Ghana,” he said, noting that the government must listen to the concerns of Ghanaians and address them without deferring them to consultations with the Minority.
Ken Ofori-Atta on Monday told the media that the government will continue engagements with the Minority in Parliament and other stakeholders to get the proposed e-levy approved.
“Having regard to its serious fiscal implications, we will continue our consultation with the Minority caucus in Parliament and other relevant stakeholders with the view to achieving consensus and reverting to the house in the shortest possible time,” the Minister stressed.
He also emphasised that the government will ensure that no one evades the payment of the tax.
But Adongo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central in the Upper East Region, said he is not convinced that the government would change its position on the planned introduction of the 1.75% E-levy.
He further accused Ofori-Atta of being disingenuous on the matter and causing a decline in the quality of democracy in Ghana.
“Clearly they don’t’ want to move an inch from the e-levy. The Minister for Finance should be telling the people of Ghana what they have on the table. This hide-and-seek is an affront to democracy and an insult to Ghanaians. Don’t’ hide behind so-called negotiation. If it would have yielded any fruit, after two weeks you should have had results,” he said.
“Clearly this is a man that is not being honest with us. And it is eroding everything that we have stood for as a democracy and I always say that Ken Ofori-Atta was the biggest pandemic from 2017 before we even got to know that there will be anything like COVID-19,” Isaac Adongo further indicated.
