The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has thanked the largest opposition party in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its Members in Parliament for ‘helping’ to fine-tune the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy).
It would be recalled that when the Finance Minister read the 2022 Budget Statement sometime last year, he proposed the imposition of a 1.75 on all digital financial transactions. The E-levy was expected to take effect in February this year.
The idea of the Levy was met with major resistance from opposition parties, CSOs and Policy Advisors and Ghanaians alike. The resistance compelled the government to agree to a reduction in the Levy and also communicate better, the uses and collection of the Levy through Town Hall Meetings.
The E-levy Bill was finally passed into law on March 29, 2022. This was however done in the absence of the Minority group in Parliament as they staged a walkout. The Law has since been accented to by the President.
Speaking on the A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper Show, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, Anthony Namoo said the passage of the E-levy Bill into law would help foster development in the country.
He went ahead to thank the NDC for helping bring the E-levy to life.
“I will thank the Minority too for helping. Even though they helped, the hawks amongst them later tried to repudiate what they did. Nevertheless, we thank them for assisting in this. The E-levy was 1.75 per cent. It was through their intervention that it came to 1.5 per cent and so to some extent, they have always been helpful,” Mr Namoo said.
He continued to say, “also, their position of quarterly accountability to Parliament. The Minister would have to account for how much has come in and how much has been spent in which areas. That is the democracy we are building for ourselves,” he said.
Touching on the NDC’s writ at the Supreme Court, Mr. Namoo said it would go to further the jurisprudence of the country.
A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
