E-levy will be passed when Bagbin is presiding – Oppong Nkrumah

E-levy passage is top of government agenda

Parliament resumes on January 25

Government maintains centrality of E-levy to revenue mobilization

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has reiterated the government’s position that the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-levy) as contained in the 2022 budget remains on the table and will be passed in

Read full articledue course.

According to the Minister, who is also a Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, the executive believes that the levy is a crucial revenue mobilization vehicle in order to respond to legitimate developmental demands of the population.

“The E-levy is still on the table,” he told the host of Citi TV’s Face To Face programme on Monday, January 10, 2022. He added: “it is a matter that the executive believes is key to revenue mobilization to help deal with all the very legitimate demands that the people of Ghana are making."

He joined colleagues on both sides of the House in demanding that disagreements be resolved with reason and thought rather than through violent confrontations as was witnessed at the first and last sittings of the house when MPs engaged in open brawls.

“Disagreement must be worked on by the force of reason and thought and argument and by vote…when Parliament resumes and Mr. Speaker is in the chair, and that is very important because this is a peculiar parliament.

“Mr. Speaker needs to be in the chair so that we can go through the process of considering the E-levy and take a decision on it at the end of the day,” he stressed.

Oppong-Nkrumah also stated that given the current economic circumstances, the government had little room to manoeuvre with respect to raising funds for development efforts hence the importance of the levy.

“The first point is that the demands on government will not go down because as information dissemination goes down, everybody is demanding something for their community… The E-levy remains an instrumental part of the fiscal framework for 2022 and is still on the table.”

Speaker Alban Bagbin was away on sick leave when the House rescinded a rejection of the 2022 budget he presided over. The House led by the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu approved the budget.

On the issue of the E-levy, it went through the Finance Committee stage only after the chairman cast a deciding vote. But when it arrived on the floor on a day Bagbin had returned for consideration, MPs brawled over procedural issues subsequent to which the House was adjourned for the holidays.

Sittings restart on January 25 and Bagbin, who has openly expressed disagreement with the E-levy, will be expected to resume his seat. He is on record as saying the ruling party will lose the net election if it forces through the 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions.