Ken Ashigbey
Now that Ken Ashigbey of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has denied being responsible for the so-called panic MoMo wallet withdrawal announcement, it would be worthwhile finding out who was a tall order though.
We can nonetheless easily regard it as part of the smouldering war against the E-Levy.
Ken Ashigbey attracted vitriolic from those who read the story when it made the headlines especially the accompanying comments about “why government refused to listen to the objection of the people against the tax and introduce the levy.” We wondered why a man like Ken would be associated with such a blatant mendacity and partisan-flavoured remark about an economic policy.
The MoMo business is still an appropriate option in our local circumstances in which the tax net is restrictive.
GUTA, our formidable umbrella body of local traders, has called for the widening of the tax net. We could not agree more when the fact of many taxable Ghanaians not doing so is undeniable. Under the circumstances therefore, only unavoidable means like E-Levy can ensure that many more pay taxes.
To continue to fight the introduction of an E-Levy when it has been passed already is to exhibit inordinate dislike for country.
Seeking to create disaffection for E-Levy vis-a-vis MoMo is but an unproductive political venture; the role of MoMo in our lives vis-a-vis digitisation cannot be disregarded. It is a catalyst in our growing cashless ambience into which we have been dipped and of course part of our lives.
It was surprising that barely two days after the take-off of the E-Levy, so many persons were making a run on their wallets as attributed to the now elusive source since Ken Ashigbey of the chamber has turned his back on it.
In our country, everything is easily politicized for electoral effect and those behind such mendacity otherwise called propaganda are in the fold of the opposition NDC, we can conjecture.
After investing so much to thwart the introduction of the levy, they could be preparing more spanners for throwing into the works.
From those who swore to stand in the way of the passage of the levy to those who vowed other outrageous things, all were bound in a common political destiny- to make governance difficult for those at the helm.
Those behind the claim of a so-called run on MoMo wallets are those who are excited about the global economic downturn. For them, it is an important ingredient for their campaign strategy. Whatever shortcomings the MoMo business suffers, that would be short-lived because the propaganda will wear out.