Parliament passes E-levy under certificate of urgency
Ghana’s Parliament has on Tuesday afternoon passed the electronic transaction levy also known as the E-levy. The controversial bill has divided opinions and caused friction between the Minority and Majority MPs in the chamber.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Parliament was in the chamber to push for the passage of the deal which the government says is one of the measures to help rewind the economy and place it on its feet. The initial bill that was laid when the Finance Minister read the 2022 Economic Policy and Budget statement in November failed to get the endorsement of the Minority side of the house. The bill imposed a 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions including mobile money transfers.
However, following the firm resistance from the Minority in Parliament and the Ghanaian public, the government embarked on town hall meetings across the country to sensitize the citizenry about the need for the tax. The bill was also revised to bring the percentage down by 0.25% to the current 1.5% which was passed today.
The Minority chanted ‘Don’t tax momo’ in resistance to the bill. The leader of the caucus, Haruna Iddrisu expressed the side’s dissatisfaction with the manner in which the bill was ‘smuggled’ into the business list of the day.
Expressing their disapproval, Haruna Iddrisu said, “We have time and again warned and cautioned that we never want to be taken by surprise on a major economic policy bill of government and we will not accept that culture”.
“So when you [Majority Caucus] did not have the numbers, you were hesitant, you won’t come before the House [with the Bill] now that you think that you have some reasonable numbers then you say ‘go to the business of item 27’,” he stated.
