Parliament won’t discuss E-levy this week – Ahmed Ibrahim reveals

Parliament resumes sitting

E-levy Bill will not be part of the House business

This was disclosed by Banda MP

As Parliament resumes on Tuesday, January 25 many are expecting the re-introduction of the proposed E-Levy by the Finance Ministry but it seems the government has failed to do so.

Ahmed Ibrahim, MP, Banda constituency, has revealed that

Read full articleduring the business committee of Parliament meeting on Monday, the government of Ghana failed to make a presentation of the E-levy bill to be re-introduced to the House.

He told Joy News on Monday, January 24, that, the government of Ghana failed to present the E-levy to the business committee because it has failed to hold engagements with interested parties on the bill.

The Deputy Minority Whip noted that, the government failed in holding the engagements with the stakeholders because it went on celebrating Christmas during Parliament recess.

“I’m very worried that for the whole recess, government who was confronted with a lot of challenges for his inability to push through e-levy went to celebrate the Christmas instead of choosing to meet the stakeholders who mattered in executing this kind of business, and I’m very surprised.

“So, it will interest you to know that government or nobody in the NPP MPs or nobody in the NPP Ministers, or nobody in the executive including even the President of the Republic and his Chief of Staff have met or engaged anybody in the Minority, not even the Minority Leader or the Party or the MPs within this recess,” he said.

Ahmed Ibrahim added, “So today I was not surprised that they went for a business committee meeting to my belief government could not table the E-levy as part of the business to be executed in this week. So, the e-levy is not on the business statement for this week.”

Meanwhile, “Government says he’s now going to consult. So, government is now telling us today that he’s now going to consult the Minority, Civil Society Organisations, the political parties, and all those people who matter in the passage of the bill. But my question is why did the government choose not to do this in the recess?”

“Because you are the very person who is complaining, we were on recess, and the Speaker said go and engage so that by the time we resume cool heads will prevail, you chose not to do that. Today we went for business committee meeting you’re saying you’re now going to do the consultation. So can you blame us in the Minority for obstructing government business? The answer is no,” Ahmed Ibrahim stressed.