Ernest Owusu-Bempah
FIXING THE Country Movement, a non-partisan and non-political civic group led by its convener, Ernest Owusu-Bempah, says Ghana will experience her worst disaster if Ghanaians allow former President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rule the country because of their ranting on the E-Levy.
According to the group, during former President Mahama’s regime, fifteen different taxes were heaped on Ghanaians, with percentages higher than the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).
Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Accra, Mr. Owusu-Bempah said, the introduction of the levies brought hardships to Ghanaians, adding it took President Akufo-Addo to cancel those levies within his first term in office.
He said some of the taxes included 17.5% real estate levy, 17.5% hospital imported medicines levy, 1% special import levy, 17.5% financial service levy, 17.5% airline ticket levy for domestic airlines, 17.5% public lightening levy, 17.5% traders levy, 5% levy on spare parts, and the infamous ‘kayayei’ levy for head potters, among others.
Quoting former President Mahama as saying, “President Nana Akufo-Addo and his Head of the Economic Management Team, rather appallingly, remain nonchalant in the face of this serious crisis and have limited their response to the imposition of very harsh and regressive tax measures, one of which is the E-Levy, which has been roundly rejected by the people of Ghana.” Mr. Owusu-Bempah described as “shameful for Mr. Mahama to compare his ‘failed’ administration to Akufo-Addo’s.
“We are not really surprised by Mahama’s callous attempts to try and take a positive credit out of the current global economic crisis, and post pandemic political-economic vulnerabilities, and attempt to present himself as a credible alternative. He’s obviously looking for endorsement within the NDC as a result of the looming tsunami of leadership struggle within the NDC,” he added.
He recalled that when former President Mahama’s government was confronted with challenges, he, at a point, compared himself to a dead goat saying, “I have seen more demonstrations and strikes in my first two years. I don’t think it can get worse. It is said that when you kill a goat and you frighten it with a knife, it doesn’t fear the knife because it is dead already. I have a dead-goat syndrome.”
Mr. Bempah expressed shock that Mr. Mahama has now assumed a holier-than-thou stance, castigating government and telling Ghanaians that he has their interest at heart, so they should vote for him so he can cancel the E-Levy.
Background
Former President Mahama has said if the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the 2024 general elections, the party will abolish the E-Levy.
BY Linda Tenyah-Ayettey