Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak, has criticised the Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, for the position he has taken on the e-levy proposal in the 2022 budget statement.
Ras Mubarak who is also a former Chief Executive Officer for the National Youth Authority said Mr Iddrisu’s posture is the kind of shifty attitudes and “dangerous flip flopping that make the public feel NDC and NPP are the same.
His comments come after Mr Iddrisu who is also MP for Tamale South had said the Minority would accept the e-levy if it is reduced to 1% from 1.75% proposed in the budget statement, contrary to the earlier view of the Minority to reject the proposal entirely.
“A week ago, we said no, we won’t accept e-levy but having listened to officials in government, including the Minister of Finance, I am convinced to accept a departure from my original no to accepting a one percent e-levy,” Mr. Iddrisu said at the 10th-anniversary launch of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications in Accra on Thursday, December 2, 2021.
“We are not against it, but we want it fixed at one percent. We fear for double taxation because we already have the Communication Services Tax,” he said.
But reacting to his comments in a post of=n Facebook, Ras Mubarak said, “He’s completely lost the plot. It is no longer the views of experts like Kwame Pianim, Terkper, Ato Forson, Nii Moi Thompson, & others that matter but that of the Finance Minister who’s run the economy to the ground. What a joke. What have they done with taxes collected already?”
“In case the Minority Leader hasn’t been reading the Auditor General’s report, over 1.2billion cedis disappeared into thin air due to procurement irregularities and no one has been held responsible. There’s wanton dissipation of public funds and you want them to take more from the people albeit 1% and waste it as we’ve seen in 5years? This is nothing short of a betrayal of the people’s cause.”
“It’s the sort of shifty attitude and dangerous flip flopping that make the public feel NDC and NPP are the same.”
Meanwhile, the Minority in a statement issued by Asawase lawmaker, Muntaka Mubarak has said its position on the proposed 1.75 per cent e-levy has not shifted.
The opposition lawmakers say the proposed levy is regressive, punitive and draconian, and that same must be suspended.
On Friday, December 3 said, “The NDC Caucus in Parliament wishes to assure Ghanaians that it will continue to use every legitimate and lawful channel to resist the 1.75% E-Levy government is seeking to impose on the ordinary Ghanaian.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the position of the NDC Caucus in Parliament right from the outset of the 2022 Budget debate has been that the 1.75% E-Levy government is seeking to impose is regressive, punitive and draconian, and that same must be suspended.”
“The Minority Caucus has vigorously championed this position in Parliament and in the media space to draw Government’s attention to our demands. Subsequent to our rejection of the Budget on 26th November 2021, government has sought to engage the NDC Caucus in a series of discussions towards finding an amicable solution to the impasse.”
“Surprisingly despite the good faith demonstrated by the NDC team recognising the importance of the Budget to the economy, business and households, the government side out-rightly rejected our proposal for a revision of the E-levy leading to a breakdown of the discussions.”
“We wish to state unequivocally that no concrete decision or agreement has been reached between government and the NDC Caucus in Parliament on this matter.”
“As we speak, government’s so-called concessions are unknown to us and we have no clear indication that they intend to seriously consider any of the proposals that have come up.”
“Under the circumstance, we wish to state that the NDC Caucus will maintain its original position as stated earlier.”
