Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central Constituency and former Minister for Roads and Highways, Inusah Fuseini, has described the government’s decision on the cancellation and reintroduction of road tolls as “foolish” and “unjustifiable.” Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, has written to his counterpart at the ministry of roads and highways to affirm that the approved toll fees and charges will be reinstated this year.
The road tolls were cancelled in 2022 after Mr. Ofori-Atta read that year’s budget in Parliament, introducing the Electronic Transaction Levy to rake up more revenue from a larger section of the public. However, after revenue shortfalls from the e-Levy, the minister announced a reintroduction of the tolls in the 2023 budget.
But speaking to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith on the Daybreak Upper East Show, the former Minister for Roads and Highways, Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, took on the New Patriotic Party government for the cancellation of the levy in the first place.
According to him, the decision was unlawful and not in good faith for a government and a country that needed more revenue for development. Former Tamale MP believes the NDC has been vindicated for criticising the government’s decision to cancel road tolls.
“It is just a foolish decision, a decision that was irrational, illogical, and unjustifiable taken by the NPP largely because of populist reasons, so the reality has caught up with them so they have to. At the time, they illegally stopped collection of road tolls, we needed money. In fact, we were struggling to pass the e-levy and the purpose of the e-levy was to raise money for the government. So what rational government will be looking for money and disposing off some money,” he said.
The former minister further called for the head of the Minister for Roads and Highways, KwasiAmoako-Attah.
Source:A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure| Bolgatanga|
