Things the government said couldn't be done until the e-levy was passed: We asked if they could be done now?

There were a number of things government officials and party communicators said could not be done unless Ghanaians accepted to take the bitter pill, which is the e-levy. Government officials attributed their failure to perform or continue certain projects solely to their inability to pass the e-levy. In this article, we will analyze some of the projects the government said could

Read full articlenot be done unless the controversial e-levy was passed, and we pleasantly asked if they could be done now that the e-levy has been passed.

Accept the E-levy or the Free Senior High School will be canceled.

The Member of Parliament for New Juaben in the Ashanti region made headlines when he appeared in a viral video urging his constituents to accept the E-levy or risk losing the free SHS. The Honorable Michael Okyere Baafi said if the policy is not passed, it will force the government to go to the international monetary fund (IMF). He further indicated the fund managers would compel the government to cancel the policy.

His comments re-echoed those of Mr. Thomas Kusi Boafi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Sector Reforms Secretariat. Mr. Boafo, who spoke to Kessben FM, said the government was facing serious liquidity challenges with a huge fiscal deficit coupled with low revenue mobilization. This, he stated, will result in the government abandoning its programmes and that even basic things like the payment of pensions will be affected.

Contractors' debts will be paid if the e-levy is passed.

The only minister who makes headlines with most of his speeches, the honorable Amoako Attah, stated that all debts owed to contractors will be cleared when the e-levy is passed. The Minister, who was speaking with the leadership of the road contractors' association, thus asked them to be ambassadors for the policy since it will benefit contractors greatly when it is passed. He therefore called for all MPs whose constituencies have major road networks to support the policy. He singled out all northern MPs, especially those in the Tamale enclave, to support the levy.

How were these projects funded?

It is surprising that e-levy is the only savior to our economic woes. Ghanaians are asking what has happened to our cocoa, gold, diamond timber and even the oil that we have been drilling for years now. They argued that if these things could not help us, then the E-levy alone could not help. Many are of the view that it is only a ploy to sway us to accept the levy, and after that, the normal excuses will continue.

Now that the levy has passed,

The government got what it wanted when the e-levy was passed in parliament amidst the controversy that never seems to go away. Ghanaians are now demanding that all of the promises made to them be fulfilled if the levy is raised. We expect major improvements on our roads given that this year is also a year of roads. This is even expected to scale up since road contractors' debts will be cleared with its proceeds.

We also expect our youth to be sorted out with the 1 billion cedis that is expected in the most touted "you start program". We don't expect excuses as we will be taking a bitter pill in what the Finance Minister burden sharing.