E-levy: Bernard Mornah schools Carlos Ahenkorah over ‘no use-no pay’ comment

Bernard Mornah has chided Tema West MP Carlos Ahenkorah

Ahenkorah has recently spoken about the controversial E-levy

Mornah says the tax is needless and one being imposed by a lazy government


Former National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention, PNC, Bernard Mornah has censured Tema West Member of Parliament, Carlos Ahenkorah, over the latter’s comment

Read full articleon the controversial E-levy.

Ahenkorah told journalists yesterday (December 8, 2021) that the E-levy brouhaha was not needed because it applied strictly to persons who decide to use a particular electronic transaction mode.

He said: “I will tell you something, I have always been saying that the MoMo tax is not a compulsory tax, you only pay when you use it. If you don’t use it you don’t pay so for me, there is no way any other procedure for making payments is going to equal MoMo.”

He explained further: “Right now, what we are saying is the tax is targeted at those who have the ability to pay, not those who are receiving. If you are receiving it is okay to go and negotiate with the person who has gone to the bank to borrow money and be a MoMo agent, pay money out, otherwise keep the money on your phone and you don’t pay any money.

“It is money targeted at those who want to use the service, even if I stand here and tell people that if you like don’t pay or if you like don’t use MoMo, I tell you, using MoMo will be far cheaper. If you think using the MoMo service is difficult or expensive, you try taking your money out there and even see.”



But reacting to Ahenkorah’s position, Mornarh explained that it wasn’t right for a government to tax capital because it had failed to collect the necessary taxes and or has failed to raise needed funding for its operations.

“We know more than Carlos Ahenkorah and we are better schooled on these matters more than he can assume and his understanding that we don’t know what we are about is the contrary.

“He doesn’t know what he is about because he hasn’t averted his mind to the fact that E-levy is a tax on capital and he is a businessman, he should know that capital has never been taxed anywhere.

“Is it for me to pay for the lethargy of government failing to go out there to go and collect taxes and therefore we must be forced to pay taxes on our capital? If he recognizes that there are people somewhere who are not being taxed, go to them and collect their taxes,” he charged.

The levy has become a major point of disagreement between the Minority and Majority Group in the lawmaking chamber.

According to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, despite extensive deliberations with the Minority, there had been no breakthrough on the specific issue even though on four other concerns, the government had agreed to amend the budget to cater for their concerns as well as that of other stakeholders.

Addressing the issue on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, when the House reconvened, Haruna Iddrisu said: “We on this side of the house are unable to support the government in his request to impose an E-Levy- on MoMo and Banks transactions.

“Therefore the minority stand opposed at any time e- levy is introduced because it will bring hardship on the Ghanaian people.”