E-Levy : Finance Minister’s strategy is wrong – Prof Abdulai

Senior Advisor at the Africa Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption, Professor David Abdulai has said the strategy adopted by the Finance Minister with regard to the introduction of the e-levy is wrong.

According to him, government should have engaged the public and even members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament before introducing the levy in the budget.

The renowned professor made the comment while contributing to discussions on the proposed government e-levy, its opposition and subsequent pressure on the Speaker to intervene.

He made the comment on TV3‘s TheKeyPoint on Saturday, March 5, monitored by GhanaPlus.com.

“No , I don’t think it is fair , i think from my point of view, the strategy of the Finance Minister and his team is wrong. What they did is they put the horse before the cart. This is not the time to now go around and trying to do town hall meetings to get buy ins from Ghanaians and others. He should have done that much earlier even before he brought the bill to Parliament or it shouldn’t be part of the budget so the pressure on the part of the Speaker in my opinion is misplaced,” Prof Abdulai said.

E-levy, government counting on prominent Ghanaians to reach consensus

Government introduction of the proposed electronic transaction levy, popularly referred to as e-levy is currently in limbo following stiff opposition by the Minority in Parliament and also the Ghanaian public.

Effort to robe in the clergy, Council of State Members and some prominent Ghanaians, including top Ghanaian Diplomat and former Minister of Education under the NDC government Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas to lead talks for consensus building have also not yielded any result as the minority is unwavering in its position.

Government is currently organizing town hall meetings to engage Ghanaians on the need to pass the e-levy.

However, Professor Abdulai said that should have been done earlier prior to its introduction.

“I think it is fine for them to do that, but am saying strategy wise, they should have done it much earlier. And that is what you do and then you actually engage the NDC members in Parliament before you even bring it to the floor and it will even give you that opportunity to have a feel or a sense of what is happening out there for you to prepare yourself .Now, this is trying to close the barn after the horse has bolted so good luck to them but I don’t think it is fair to put the pressure on the Speaker,” Prof Abdulai noted.