Scrap E-levy, it is killing Ghanaians – Arise Ghana to government

The Leadership of the Arise Ghana demonstrators have called on the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to scrap what they describe as the “obnoxious Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).”

The group, while presenting a copy of their petition to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, said that the E-levy “is imposing more hardship on the people of Ghana, siphoning their capital and above all confiscating our savings.”

“The Ministry should take urgent steps to ensure that inflation is brought down to the barest minimum so that the poor with the little income can be able to afford basic commodities. That you should do everything possible to arrest the deteriorating currency which is now among the worst in the world,” one of the group's leaders, Bernard Mornah, read a portion of the petition.

Mr. Mornah also mentioned that the government must reconsider its decision to reintroduce the Agyapa deal to Parliament and reduce the high unemployment rate in the country.

“We are on a simple mission that there are difficulties and that everything the economic hardship that the people of Ghana are going through as a result of the bad policies that are formulated by the Ministry of Finance.

“We are standing here despite the petition being addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, that is the representative of the people; we see it fit to give you a copy so that you understand the issues therein and take pragmatic steps to alleviate the plight and the suffering of the people of Ghana,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has commended the demonstrators and police officers deployed for a successful outcome of day two of the Arise Ghana demonstration.

“We are grateful to the general public for their cooperation and understanding in spite of the inconvenience the demonstration undoubtedly caused them.

“Whilst we continue to register our disappointment at the riotous conduct of the demonstrators on the first day, we commend them for their comportment today, which, we hope would provide lessons for the future occasions to help deepen our democratic practices as a country,” the police disclosed in a statement signed by Director Public Affairs, Grace Ansah-Akrofi.