Former Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has cautioned the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) against their intention to scrap E-Levy, Betting and COVID-19 taxes.
Speaking on a wide range of issues on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Yen Bia’ morning show monitored by GhanaWeb on Monday, March 3, 2025, the Ofoase-Ayirebi MP threw caution to the NDC to be reminded of their promise to Ghanaians that they will scrap some taxes.
He stated that the Mahama-led government within just two months has already borrowed 67 billion cedis, an indication that there’s a short fall in internally generated revenue to run the country.
“NDC’s decision to scrap E-Levy, Betting and COVID-19 Tax will cost them an aggregated amount of 22 billion Ghana cedis.
“This government has been in power for only 2 months and have already borrowed 67 billion cedis. This is a testament to the fact that the state needs to employ strategies to make up for the revenue short fall instead of adopting the populist approach to governance. The reality will eventually catch up with them if they go ahead to remove these three taxes,” the former minister said.
Quizzed on the minority’s boycott of the three-day orientation workshop in Ho, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi indicated that there was no prior engagement with his side during the planning of the retreat.
“One would think that a government that is lamenting about the indebtedness of the country would be modest in all their dealings, but when you look at the videos from the retreat it will sadden you.
“In any case, we were not engaged in the planning of the event and were told just on Friday night that we should pack for the orientation. We would not be part of such an event,” he said.
Parliament commenced a three-day orientation workshop for Members of Parliament (MPs) at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
The minority refused to attend the event, citing cost and venue as their reason for the boycott.
The event was organized by the Parliamentary Training Institute (PTI).
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
