UK pays 10 percent E-Levy, Owusu-Ekuful
A poor Ghanaian is someone who earns GH¢70 a year, Okyere Darko
In what looks like a desperate effort to increase support for the contentious Electronic Levy also known as E-Levy, government officials have made all kinds of comments. Some of the comments have been laced with threats while others have bothered on the extreme, courting public condemnation.
The Levy when passed will affect various forms of electronic transactions, especially the now widely used Mobile Money transaction.
While the bill of the levy is yet to be laid before parliament for delibrations, GhanaWeb takes a look at some of the controversial comments made by some government officials.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful – 'You are not poor if you can send GH¢100'
Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, in responding to concerns that the E-Levy will affect poor people, said any person who can send GH¢100 is not poor.
“Now, if you have more than a GH¢100 to send a day, then you’re not poor. So, if you really are poor and you are in a position to send GH¢100 a day, then we need to re-classify the definition of who the real beneficiaries of these are, and it is only the sender who pays, not the receiver,” she told GH Today on GHOne TV.
In another attempt to justify the collection of the E-Levy, Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said countries that Ghana borrows from are paying electronic transaction charges way above the proposed 1.75 percent E-Levy.
She even suggested that the United Kingdom is paying 10 percent E-Levy which was later fact-checked by GhanaWeb to be false.
“In other countries, digital taxes are being introduced at the rate of up to 10% and they’re paying. That’s the UK. And we go there and seek loans from them to finance our development. When we are not paying the requisite taxes that we should,” Ursula Owusu stated at an E-Levy Town Hall meeting.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah: A poor Ghanaian is someone who earns GH¢70 a year
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah said poor people will not be affected by the E-Levy because by his analysis poor people earned GH¢70 a year.
“Poor people won’t pay some, there is no poor person that will pay some. This is the analysis I made, in Ghana if they say someone is a poor person; it is someone who earns 70 Ghana cedis in a year,” he said at an E-Levy townhall meeting.
His comments generated chatter on social media and become a topic for discussion for mainstream media.
Thomas Kusi Boafo - ‘There will be no ‘Free SHS’ and jobs for you if you reject E-Levy’
Another government official, Chief Executive Officer of Public Sector Reforms Secretariat, Thomas Kusi Boafo, in an interview on Kessben FM’s ‘Amansan Ntie’ programme, said if Ghanaians want jobs and Free Senior High School (SHS) then they should support the passage of the E-Levy Bill.
“So, Ghanaians must make a choice; we don’t like free education, stop employing our children, don’t increase wages and salary, trigger the sacking of workers…and I’ll do so and there will be no E-levy for anybody.
“There will be no road for you, schools will not be built, there will be no payment of tier two for workers…” he said in defence of why the government needs to pass the E-Levy bill into law.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu - If you want the economy to collapse, so be it
During a session in Parliament, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, suggested that the Minority Caucus' opposition to the E-Levy is because they want Ghana’s Economy to collapse.
“Mr Speaker, the Minority Leader is adding that they have taken a position that they want to stand with the public to reject the E-Levy. Mr Speaker, we on this side want to stand with the republic to ensure the revitalization of the economy, if the people want to see the collapse of the economy, so be it for them,” Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said on the floor of parliament on February 1, 2022.
Currently, the government is touring the country, engaging Ghanaians, and explaining why the country needs to accept the levy in the face of the covid pandemic.
View her Timepath below:
Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful