The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has designated this year as the ‘Year of Schools’. This means that education will take centre stage in the Assembly’s budget and project distribution. The MCE for Bolgatanga, REx Asanga said he was worried about the inadequacies in the area of education; particularly with regard to infrastructure.
“For now, education is our priority. Whatever monies we get, we are going to put into furniture for schools, into rehabilitating buildings or even putting up new buildings. BY next week, we are going to award [a contract for the construction of a] three classroom block for one of the primary schools that need classroom infrastructure at Tondonsobligo with all the ancillary facilities,” he said.
In the coming days, the Assembly would launch the MCE Special Initiative Committee. The Committee is supposed to reach out to well-meaning individuals and organisations to fund the procurement of dual desks for children still sitting on bare floors to study.
“This Committee will just be going cup-in-hand, begging individuals to give us [the finances to construct] one dual desk, if you can give us more, that will be fine. The Committee will take it one school at a time. We will continue until such a time when all the children have desks to sit on,” he explained.
Mr. Asanga who school in 1964 found it ironic that in his time, there were enough desks to go around but while the years went by, children have begun to sit on bare floors to study.
He reiterated that the Assembly would not relent in its efforts to better the education sector within the Municipality.
“It is not every day you will get every media house or journalist to just be supporting a course taken by a politician. But in these two activities, I got the media completely in support of it. They really went out of the way to give us support and I think that is what kept us on. We were encouraged by the support. It appears that the population was also waiting for somebody to take those bold decisions,” he said.
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith |Bolgatanga|Ghana
The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has begun conversations with the Bolgatanga Cattle Traders to work out the kinks in relocating the traders, or at least part of the market to Yorogo to complement the relocation of the butchers to the ultramodern abattoir at Yorogo, a suburb of Bolgatanga.
It would be recalled that as part of the preconditions for relocation, the butcher requested to have the cattle and small ruminant markets moved to Yorogo. The butchers argued that the distance between the current locations of the livestock markets and the abattoir would increase the cost of the work they do.
Meanwhile, when A1 Radio interacted with the Cattle Traders, they were displeased about the thoughts of relocation. They wondered why the butchers would want to pass the cost of transportation to them. They also said without purchases from the butchers, they still met their daily sells target; an indication that they are not financially impacted by the businesses of the butchers.
The MCE for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga confirmed this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East. “The Municipal Security Council met with the cattle traders and they had discussions. Of course, they [the cattle traders], like the butchers have their own apprehensions because they think that we [the Assembly] has used four years to negotiate the movement of the butchers. Why do we think that they should become an appendage and move at out whims and caprices?”
“So we need to negotiate with them,” he said.
Mr. Asanga continued to say that “because of the reluctance of the butchers to move, the Assembly has not put in place infrastructure for kraals at the site. It was difficult for the Assembly to go into any major expenditures, without the butchers being onsite”.
While the conversations with the butchers continue, the MCE maintained that negotiations will also continue to allow or a fair decision to be taken on the relocation of cattle traders.
“When it comes to infrastructure, we have to start with it. For example, we will have to build a kraal to serve as a motivation for them to move. It is a gradual process,” he said.
Mr. Asanga was however quick to add that the Assembly is open to the idea of opening and painting two kraals; maintaining the old one at its current location and then opening a new one at Yorogo.
“It is not every day you will get every media house or journalist to just be supporting a course taken by a politician. But in these two activities, I got the media completely in support of it. They really went out of the way to give us support and I think that is what kept us on. We were encouraged by the support. It appears that the population was also waiting for somebody to take those bold decisions,” he said.
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith |Bolgatanga|Ghana
The two string guitar Legend, Stevo has again won 5 awards at the just ended My Bolga Online Frafra Music Awards Festival (FMAF) held in Bolgatanga.
The legend in 2021 won the Newcomer of the year in one of the United Kingdom’s music awards ‘ The Songlines Music Awards.
The awards won were artists of the year, best songwriter of the year, the best album of the year, best song from Bongo and best favourite song of the year.
Speaking to A1radioonline.com after the event, the legend noted that he anticipated winning more awards as his craft is all about instilling discipline in society.
He, therefore, appreciated fans and voters for the support, adding that he will continue to use his craft to promote the Guruni Heritage as well as educate the youth on their culture.
The Frafra Music Awards aims at promoting, appreciating the history and traditional craft these ‘Kologo’ artists are putting on in their music.
Being the first of its kind, organisers of the festival assured they will continue to promote the indigenous heritage through appreciating the artists and their craft every year.
Some of the shortlisted artists include Ayuune Sule, GuyOne, the late Asambo, Abola, and many others.
Legal Services Manager for SSNIT, Emmanuel Sackey has indicated that persons who fail to pay SSNIT contributions for their employees are liable to a fine of GH¢2,000 or a jail term of 5 years in line with Section 64 of the Pensions Act.
This, he said applies to all employers including those who have employed house helps. “It is not voluntary, it is compulsory,” he said.
Speaking on JoyNews’The Law on Sunday, February 6, 2022, the Acting Public Affairs Manager of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Charles Akwei Garshong who was also on the show stated that often, such employers argue that the house help has not been placed on any regular income, therefore, they won’t pay the SSNIT contributions.
He noted that this is not enough justification to deny anyone their SSNIT contributions.
“You’re under obligation to register and pay that person you have engaged as a house help. You have engaged that person for service and you are paying him/her directly or indirectly, so you’ll need to get to our office, let’s sit down and agree on how the payment is going to be made,” he said.
“Probably for now, you would say no one will come to your home and check, but when we get to know, we’ll come after you with court summons,” he warned.
They both reiterated that SSNIT takes no pleasure in taking legal actions against defaulting employers. Hence, all employers should comply with the rules and pay the deserved SSNIT contributions for their workers.
Member of Parliament for the South Dayi Constituency, Rockson Dafeamekpor, has added his voice to calls for Ghanaians, seeking entry into the United Kingdom, to be exempted from taking the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exams.
The IELTS exams is a mandatory requirement by the British government, which enjoins citizens from some selected countries to pass before they are given permission to either work, stay or school in the United Kingdom.
Since its inception, the IELTS has been part of the criteria on which the British Councils in Ghana and Nigeria, approve VISA applications from local indigenes.
However, in a detailed presentation on the floor of Parliament on February 3, the legislator explained that, the requirement is not necessary for Ghanaians, since Ghana already uses the English Language as the medium of instruction across all levels of teaching and learning.
In his view, the requirement is burdensome, and poses a lot of inconveniences for Ghana, therefore it must be scrapped.
He further stated that, Ghana was colonised by Britain, and thus having adopted English as the country’s official lingua franca, he does not see the need for Ghanaians to sit the IELTS exams, before entering the United kingdom.
Meanwhile, some aggrieved Nigerians have also taken to Twitter to decry the requirement. According to them, the IELTS exams must be scrapped since Nigeria already uses English in its official communication. The native protestors also added that, the cost of the IELTS exams has become expensive in recent times, hence the need for Nigerians to be exempted from same.
The #ReformIELTSPolicy campaign on Twitter, received the endorsement of the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, who also indicated that Nigerians deserve an exemption from the test, having been formerly colonised by Britain.
‘IELTS is pure extortion. Nigeria with English as its lingua Franca should not be mandated to write IELTS before working or schooling in the U.K. It makes no sense at all. I took up a job in the UK and I didn’t have communication issues even without IELTS. #ReformIELTSPolicy’, an advocate, General Okwulu Okalisia, tweeted.
Another embattled user with the handle, @EfioItaNyok, wrote, “Dear UK Home Office, respond to the thesis in #ReformIELTSPolicy. You can’t colonise us, neocolonise us so much so that English is our official language which we use from home to post-graduate levels and still ask us to sit for IELTS before gaining entrance to study in the UK”.
With a growing campaign from the West African neighbours, Nigeria, the call by the NDC lawmaker, has been welcomed by many on social media, who also believe that the IELTS policy must be revised, especially amongst British colonies.
Reacting to his statement on the floor of Parliament, some concerned Ghanaians also applauded the call by the MP, and urged government to join the fight.
According to them this will make life less difficult for the teeming number of Ghanaians, who want to study in the UK, and embark on other related endeavours.
The Acting Public Affairs Manager of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Charles Akwei Garshong, has decried the practice whereby some workers decide to change their date of birth when they attain the retirement age.
Article 199, Clause 1 of the 1992 Constitution states that “a public officer shall, except as otherwise provided in the Constitution, retire from public service on attaining the age of sixty years.”
According to Charles Akwei Garshong, some workers who have attained the age of 60 years troop to SSNIT offices to change their date of birth to enable them continue working
Speaking on JoyNews‘ The Law, on Sunday, Mr. Garshong noted that, ultimately, the individuals do so in order to earn more income before they retire.
“With the retirement age that we have, I tell people that we should be hoping to turn 60 and go on retirement. But, it will surprise you to know that people don’t want to retire at 60. Some are 60 and they realize that probably, they had a promotion just a year ago.
“They want to enjoy that salary for a much longer period so they will come to us that the date of birth I provided to you some 35 years ago is wrong. So I want to reduce my age by say 3 years but they will not actually tell you their date of birth was wrong,” he said.
He added that “they will tell you SSNIT captured their date of birth wrongly, so that has to be changed.”
Interacting with host, Samson Lardy Anyenini, the Acting Public Affairs Manager, however, stated that the initial information provided to SSNIT will be used to determine the retirement age of any individual.
“But I will say that whatever age you provided at the beginning is what is going to be used,” he said.
Meanwhile, Charles Akwei Garshong says employees cannot be compelled to be in active service when they reach the retirement age.
He noted that employers can reach an agreement with their employees to work for the a stipulated period in accordance with the Constitution (not more than 5 years) after reaching the age of 60 years.
“Your employer will not prevent you from retiring at 60. If you want to stay beyond that, that is your choice with the years that the Constitution provides. It is not compulsory. It is actually 5 years in addition.”
Clause 4 of Article 119 of the Constitution states that, notwithstanding the retirement age of 60 years, “a public officer who has retired from the public service after attaining the age of sixty years may, where the exigencies of the service require, be engaged for a limited period of not more than two years at a time but not exceeding five years in all and upon such other terms and conditions as the appointing authority shall determine.”
Also, Clause 2 of the same Article states “a public service officer may, except as otherwise provided in the Constitution, retire from public service at any time after attaining the age of forty-five years.”
Following the reading of Ghana’s 2022 budget statement, there have been numerous debates about the proposed E-levy and a large section of the populace has since registered its displeasure at it.
The Government has however assumed a seemingly uncompromising posture towards the implementation of the proposed E-Levy. Many have argued that the government’s posture smacks of desperation. Of course, without giving it much thought, one would come to the realisation that this appears to be an all or nothing kind of battle for the government. What we are experiencing is the natural reaction of a state bedeviled with self-imposed penury. It is a result of continuous fiscal irresponsibility and an ill-inspired manner of living. This piece discusses the proposed levy in the light of our prevailing tax policy, our economic state as a nation, and hysterically, our vigorous pursuit of the ‘kamikaze’ button in our digital inclusion agenda.
E-Levy- What is it?
The E-Levy is a proposed tax on specified electronic transactions. According to the E-levy Bill, the levy is proposed at a rate of 1.75percent on the value of mobile money transactions between mobile money accounts on the same electronic money issuer (EMI), mobile money transactions between mobile money accounts on different EMIs, transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts, transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts and bank transfers on digital platforms or applications originating from a bank account belonging to an individual to another individual. While it has recently emerged that the government might be willing to adjust the rate of the levy downwards in response to pressure from the minority in parliament and the general public, one can only be certain of the percentage of tax when the enabling legislation is passed.
Tax Policy Considerations
According to the latest statistics published by the OECD, Ghana’s Tax-GDP-Ratio currently stands at 13.5 per cent. In less sophisticated language, this means that the amount of tax collected in Ghana, expressed as a percentage of the total value of goods and services produced in the country stands at 13.5 per cent, below the African average rate of 16.6 percent. A relatively higher tax-GDP ratio signals a robust internal revenue generation machinery whereas a lower percentage indicates the exact opposite. While I admit that our tax-GDP ratio should be higher to support our economic transformation dreams, any approach that sacrifices or even ignores other important signals of economic growth may lead us to the proverbially misleading glitter.
In the just-ended fiscal year, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has itself announced that it met and surpassed its revenue mobilisation target. In an economy straddled with the ‘post Covid-19’ problems, this achievement must be commended. The actual target for 2021 was GHS 57.055 billion.
The GRA ended up collecting GHS 57.32 billion. What makes this achievement even more spectacular is that the target for the year was not adjusted downwards during the mid-year review as has become customary over the last couple of years. Additionally, the revenue generation resulted in a 26.3 per cent growth over the previous year’s revenue, the highest annual growth rate in a decade.2 Clearly, it appears we have the men to collect the taxes. When one looks at the breakdown of the revenue mobilisation according to the tax types, it reveals an interesting fact.
To illustrate this point better, let us consider these statistics; our Domestic Direct Taxes accounted for 46.1 per cent of the revenue generated. Domestic Indirect Taxes made up for 23.8 per cent and Customs and International Trade Taxes accounted for 28.1 per cent of our revenue. The biggest contributor to our tax revenue is direct taxation.
Ironically, in a year where the GRA reminds us of its stellar achievements that outshine all other achievements over the last decade, it is shocking to find out that this much tax was collected from a tax paying population that does not even constitute up to 10 per cent of the population.
According to the recent population and housing census, Ghana’s tax penetration rate stands at less than 10 per cent. This was also reported in the budget statement. By implication, less than 10 per cent of the population contributes to Ghana’s direct domestic revenue generation. It is amazing that such a fraction of Ghanaians is responsible for the marvelous performance of the GRA this year, as touted by the Authority itself. One can only imagine how much more taxes could be collected by just doubling the tax penetration figure.
It is safe to conclude here that an increase in the number of direct taxpayers would significantly impact our revenue mobilisation agenda. Logically, one would wonder how we can achieve such an increase in the number of registered taxpayers in such a short space of time. Another anticipated comment would be the observation that the introduction of the E-Levy would expand the tax base and invariably achieve the same purpose.
The answer to the first preempted question is fairly straightforward. Last year, the GRA announced that they were phasing out individual Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and replacing these with the Ghana Card ID number. According to the Authority, the number of people registered by the National Identification Authority (NIA) as part of the mass registration exercise as at October 5, 2021 was over 15 million, representing 84.3% of Ghanaians over the age of fifteen (15).
In the past year, so much progress has been made with the integration of the Ghana Card into essential parts of the economy. As it stands, one cannot start a business without a Ghana Card. Recently, the Bank of Ghana announced that effective July, 2022, the Ghana Card will be the only allowable ID for transacting business with Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions. These efforts have invariably widened the tax net in such a short time.
The Commissioner -General of the GRA himself has stated that this move will enable organisations share important data and rope in eligible taxpayers, especially in the informal sector. To situate this in the context of the figures, according to the 2022 budget statement, Ghana’s population stands at 30.8 million people with 42.8% belonging to the adult population. Of this number, only 2,364,348 people, representing less than 10% of the total population, were registered as taxpayers as at August 2022. Also, of this number, only 2,364,348 people, representing less than 10% of the total population, were registered as taxpayers as at August 2021. Again, only 45,109 entities are registered as Corporate taxpayers, while 54,364 persons are registered as self-employed taxpayers at the GRA.
Obviously, these statistics did not factor in the mass Ghana Card Registration and the automatic expansion of the tax net as a consequence of the policies and decisions that have followed the mass registration. Considering these same figures in the aftermath of a complete migration from traditional TINs to the Ghana Card ID number, we will be looking at potentially quadrupling the figures for corporate and individual taxpayers in the books of the Revenue Authority. The point being made here is that the tax net has already been expanded significantly with the migration from traditional TINs to the Ghana Card ID Number, and it is only going to get better with time as complete integration is pursued.
For a Revenue Authority whose men appear to have been on their best performance in a decade, collecting over GHS 26 million from a narrow net of direct corporate and individual taxpayers, collecting an excess GHS 6.9 billion from a significantly wider tax net should be the easiest task. If we pursue increased revenue mobilisation in this manner, we will be killing two birds with one stone; we will be effectively distributing the tax burden proportionally and advancing equity of tax collection as well as preventing the almost tragic consequences of this proposed E-levy.
E-Levy; the Antithesis of Digital Inclusion
Ghana’s digital payments ecosystem has recorded significant growth over the last couple of years. The ease and flexibility associated with these payments make patronage of mobile money and other payment services quite organic. According to the Bank of Ghana, the value of digital transactions in Ghana grew by 120% from February 2020 to February 2021, indicating a threefold increase relative to the 40% increase from February 2019 to February 2020.
The total value of digital transactions for 2020 was estimated to be over GHS 500 billion compared to GHS 257 billion in 2019 and GHS 78 billion in 2016. As at October 2021, there were 18.4 million active mobile money accounts, more than 7 times the number of registered tax payers. This is great news for a country poised to advance digital inclusion and promote a cash-lite economy. What a cashless economy does for us is to reduce the Central Bank’s cost of cash production and transportation as a huge section of the economy will thrive on alternative payment channels.
It is thus clear that, contrary to pedestrian comments that seem to suggest that the only advantage of a cashless economy is increased convenience, real economic considerations exist for the commitment of emerging and developed economies to the cash-lite agenda. There are also immense benefits for revenue generation efforts. Last year, the GRA migrated to a completely digital payment infrastructure. The feat of surpassing last year’s revenue mobilisation target has been partly attributed to this transition by the GRA. One would then wonder why the government would risk losing a significant number of patrons of digital payment services by introducing a levy which has been proven elsewhere to cause a sharp decline in patronage of alternative payment methods.
In Uganda for instance, a tax on mobile money services was reduced from the initial rate of 1% to 0.5% following public outcry. The effect of this tax was nevertheless felt when months later, the value of transactions dropped by a whopping 24%.6 Further research suggests that although at face value, the idea of the E-levy might seem like a quick fix to broadening the tax net, the long term effects may significantly erode our tax revenue. A certain study by Njuguna Ndungú on the effects of a similar tax on the digital inclusion landscape of Kenya makes the finding that increased taxation on mobile phone-based transactions may not expand the tax base, but, rather, may result in less and less tax revenue in the future.
In other words, a higher tax rate on low-level retail electronic transactions, which come from low-income earners that are sensitive to transaction costs, may discourage the use of mobile phone payments. These taxes are targeting mobile transactions because of their high volume, but, in reality, the value per transaction is so low that even a low tax has a disproportionate effect on the cost.
Although the proposed Bill suggests that the levy will not apply on transactions that do not exceed a cumulative value of GHS 100 in a day, it is nevertheless a regressive tax as the value of GHS 100 in today’s economy is so insignificant that most transactions would exceed the threshold. The tax is regressive because it imposes the same amount on Mobile Money payments between two individuals transacting in a Ghanaian market place like the Dome market as it does to high net worth corporations transferring funds between and among themselves using a digital channel.
While these two corporations might be willing to bear the extra cost for convenience, the trader and customer stationed at Dome would rather revert to cash transactions to save the least penny. In what the economists will term as inelastic demand, the patronage of these alternative payment platforms will experience a sharp decline as a result of the increased costs associated with digital payment transactions. Typically, this is easier in our environment because of the alternative, cash payments. In sum, patronage of digital payment systems will drop significantly, affecting the digital payments ecosystem.
Other Issues
It must be noted that the government’s revenue generation efforts will be significantly threatened. What the government fails to realise is the fact that even though the payment of taxes and other government charges have been apparently excluded from the ambit of application of the levy, that would be inconsequential to the decline in the payment of taxes through digital platforms. People will simply not utilise those platforms which implies that payment of taxes, through these platforms would become secondary and needless to many of these taxpayers.
The proposed levy also exposes taxpayers to economic double taxation. Firstly, the base of this tax is not income, it merely identifies money being transferred and places a tax on that amount. The money involved may be money which has already been taxed at another level. Let us consider the scenario where Akua buys a meal at Santoku. Her bill is GHS 200 and includes all statutory levies (VAT, Covid-19 Levy, Tourism Levy etc.). She chooses to pay via electronic means, then the government lays claim to an extra portion of her money. In essence, same amount of money has been taxed twice.
It could even get more complex if she is paying from a card linked to her salary account that has already been subject to income tax. This scenario explains why most commentators regard the levy as a needless burden on the already burdened citizenry. The million-dollar question still remains unanswered: Why put already compliant taxpayers through a layer of extra burden when millions of Ghanaians who could be paying direct taxes continue to enjoy a holiday?
Conclusion
The author is of the firm conviction that the E-levy is a lazy approach to raising money to service our budget. For a price of GHS 6.9 billion, which at this point appears unrealistic due to circumstances like delay in the passage of the Act and possible reduction in the rate of the tax, it is a very cheap altar on which to sacrifice the gains made in our digital inclusion agenda and the promotion of the cash-lite agenda.
As demonstrated, more money could be raised for the government expenditure by simply putting our ‘Award winning’ GRA to work and going after direct taxes especially with the Ghana Card expansion efforts. Also, other tax types like the property tax regime await exploitation and could use efforts from our revenue mobilisation apparatus. Although a majority of Ghanaians, the author included, are opposed to the E-levy in any form, our opinions seldom count when the government is as determined as they are now. We may be hitting a self-destruct button. Time will tell.
Contributor: Jonathan Abotiwine Alua
The author is a lawyer with the firm; Law Temple. He’s also a Graduate Assistant at the University of Ghana School of Law where he assists the Tax and Criminal Law teaching teams. His areas of focus are Dispute Resolution, Taxation, Criminal Law, Fintech Regulation, Intellectual Property Law and Commercial Law. Views expressed in this article are entirely his and do not in any way represent those of Agreed Best Communications Limited.
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has declined the invitation from the National Labour Commission (NLC) for a meeting on Monday, February 7 to settle the current impasse that has seen the teachers on strike for weeks.
The Labour Division of the Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Justice Frank Rockson Aboadwe, on Thursday ordered the two parties to consider settling their matters outside of the courts and report back on Thursday, February 10.
The Commission consequently wrote to the Association, officially inviting its leadership to a meeting with government officials to chart a new course in finding a lasting resolution to the grievances.
But UTAG, through its counsel Darko, Keli-Dentaa and Co, says it will rather meet with government on the way forward and later report to the Commission.
“As much as we are grateful for the invitation to your proposed tripartite meeting, we honestly believe the more acceptable approach in the present circumstances is for our client to meet with the government side of the impasse to try to iron out their remaining differences.
“We will then report back to the National Labour Commission (NLC) on the meeting’s outcome.”
The university lecturers have been on strike since Monday, January 10, demanding a publication of a report on their market premium by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
But NLC decided to drag the aggrieved teachers to court, calling the strike illegal.
On Friday, February 4, Vice Chancellors-Ghana assured the Minister of Education that a meaningful resolution of the matter is in the offing and there is hope the “distinguished” professors and lecturers will be back soon.
Twenty two prominent Ghanaians have called on their compatriots to boycott phone calls on Tuesday February 8 to register their concerns against the ongoing SIM card registration exercise.
According to them, there is no law backing the exercise hence should be stopped.
They had earlier raised this issue hoping that the National Communications Authority (NCA) would act on them. But they said in a statement on Sunday February 6 that the NCA had failed to do so hence, the decision to boycott the Mobile Network Operators (MNO).
“Following the failure of the National Communications Authority (NCA) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to address concerns associated with the legality and chaotic Sim-Reregistration Exercise, we the undersigned Concerned Mobile Network Subscribers, and the over 7000 online petitioners, call upon our fellow countrymen and women to join our campaign for a #NoCallsDay boycott of the MNOs on Tuesday 8th February 2022.
“On Tuesday, we are appealing to Ghanaians and all mobile network users within Ghana not to make and or received calls and all associated mobile network activities from 6am to 12midday.
“The #NoCallsDay boycott on 8th February, would be the first in a series of national boycotts to protest against the illegal and inhumane process of re-registration of SIM cards.”
(II) The NCA should immediately withdraw its directive for mobile network customers to re-register their SIM cards by 31st March 2022.
(iii) Appropriate legal framework must be in place for any directives for sim re-registration to happen
(IV) A demand for the NCA and MNOs to come up with a better and innovative way of re-registering the SIM cards without the current chaotic and inhumane re-registration process we are witnessing up and down the country.
(V) The NCA should direct the MNOs to stop using private phones of employees to collect subscribers’ biometric data.
Our next line of action after Tuesday 8th February, if the concerns raised above remain would be a full day’s (6am – 6pm) boycott on Tuesday 15th February, and same every other Tuesday until the appropriate action is taken by the NCA & MNOs.
The Coalition of Transport Operators says its members have reached a consensus to increase transport fares by 30% effective next week.
This decision was reached after a 16-member transport union including Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU), Concerned Drivers Association, Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), amongst others, met last Thursday, February 3, in Accra over concerns about the hikes in fuel prices.
The Union says it will meet with the Ministry of Transport over the expected increment on Monday, February 7, 2022.
The National PRO of the Concerned Drivers Association, David Agboad explained their stance saying the price of fuel is unbearable.
