For the almost two hours that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia addressed members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fete in the Central Region on Thursday, April 7, the recently passed Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, popularly known as e-levy, was not mentioned.
Dr Bawumia took pride in digital innovations rolled out by the current administration since assuming office in 2017.
He mentioned the likes of Mobile Money interoperability, drone supply of medicines, digitalisation of passport applications and driver’s license, introduction of Ghana Card and the usage of National ID numbers as Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) as some of the innovations brought about by the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
“And they still don’t understand the link between digitalisation and the economy,” he consistently interjected his address with these words.
But what many were looking forward to was the long silence of the Vice President on the e-levy.
He had previously described as uncaring a move by government to tax mobile money transactions as he said it is a domain for the poor.
Since the new tax was tabled in Parliament in November, 2021, Dr Bawumia has failed to comment on its resourcefulness in the current revenue mobilisation drive by the government.
Therefore, it came as a surprise that he did not mention it at all.
He also never mentioned the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its three-time Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama, though he frequently referred to the period of their administration.
He used “they” and “them” consistently in his address, an insinuation to the Mahama-led NDC government.
Source: 3news.com
