NPP MPs roast Okudzeto Ablakwa for ‘irresponsible insinuations’ regarding E-levy lawsuit
Members of the Majority Caucus in parliament are not having it at all with the legislator of the North Tongu constituency Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and have lashed out at him for suggesting that Majority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has been having a secret meeting with the judiciary over the Minority’s E levy suit.
An aggrieved Majority caucus has indicated that it takes strong exception to the comments by Mr Ablakwa which amount to “reckless insinuations.”
The North Tongu legislator has in recent times called out the Leader for the Majority over the latter’s comments that the Minority’s E-levy suit will amount to nothing.
According to Ablakwa, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu’s conviction that the Minority’s lawsuit against the passage of the E-levy will amount to nothing suggests that there is a predetermined outcome of the legal action which Mr Kyei Mensah-Bonsu is aware of.
But the Majority caucus in a statement said Ablakwa’s allegations are irresponsible.
“Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa ‘s reckless insinuations, in addition to direct irresponsible allegations from him that the Majority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has become the official mouthpiece of the Supreme Court are condemnable and destructive,” it said in the statement.
The Majority said the posture and comments of Ablakwa go to paint a picture of bias of the judiciary which could negatively affect the country’s democracy.
“The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has not had and would not have any such clandestine meetings in any form whatsoever with the Judiciary over this or any other suit.”
They further point out that it’s their legal opinion that the suit currently before the Courts “lacks merit and would be dismissed accordingly,” the majority stressed.
Some members of the Minority Caucus, including Ablakwa, are challenging the passage of the E-levy at the Apex Court.
They followed up by subsequently filing an injunction on the implementation pending the final determination of the case. The case is expected to be heard on May 4, 2022.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA, has served notice that the tax measure is coming into full force in May, a position the conveners of the #Fixthecountry movement who staged a protest against the E-levy even before its passage, find problematic.
They have vowed to use available legal means to stop the GRA.
Read statement below:
The Majority Caucus in Parliament takes a strong exception to repeated comments by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa insinuating that the Majority Leader may have held secret meetings which equip him with the foreknowledge on what would be the outcome of the suit at the Supreme Court, which seeks to invalidate the passage of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).
Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa ‘s reckless insinuations, in addition to direct irresponsible allegations from him that the Majority Leader, Mr. “Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has become the official mouthpiece of the Supreme Court” are condemnable and destructive.
It is expected that the right-thinking members of the Minority Caucus he belongs and the political party he represents, would draw his attention to a picture of bias his comments creates for the Judiciary and the vicious consequences thereof for our democracy.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has not had and would not have any such clandestine meetings in any form whatsoever with the Judiciary over this or any other suit.
It remains our legal opinion that the suit currently before the Courts, lacks merit and would be dismissed accordingly.
