Edudzi Tamekloe has advised the Majority Leader
He charged him to demonstrate leadership
Godwin Edudzi Tamekloe, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has charged the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, to exhibit leadership skills that are premised on dialoguing.
According to him, the Suame MP must appreciate the unique nature of the eighth Parliament, which must give him the signal that, the governing party does not have the required numbers to pass the E-Levy bill into law.
He said, the leader of government business in the House should be engaging his side to avoid needless accusations that will keep the E-levy debate in a stalemate.
“I think the Majority Leader must begin to demonstrate leadership. If you don’t have the numbers and are unable to marshal the numbers, be frank with the people of this country,” he advised.
Edudzi Tamekloe argued that, the Majority group should blame themselves for the ‘forced’ exit of the Speaker on Friday, January 28 after delaying the commencement of proceedings.
“It was very late in the evening when the issue of e-levy came in and I recall very well the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka Mubarak raised the issue if you are putting up this bill now, we have to debate and vote on it.”
“They [the Majority] deliberately kept shifting to the point that the Speaker had no other option to threaten that he wants to leave. I think it is pretty obvious that the leadership of the Majority are unable to marshal the numbers required for the purposes of carrying the E-levy through,” he stressed.
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About the E-Levy
On November 17, 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced the introduction of a 1.75% tax on all electronic transactions during the 2022 budget presentation before parliament.
According to him, this new directive forms part of strategies to widen the country’s tax net.
He added that the 1.75% tax is also to enhance financial inclusion and protect the vulnerable in the country.
The E-levy since its announcement by the Finance Minister has received public backlash from some Ghanaians especially Members of Parliament from the Minority Caucus.
At a recent press conference, the Minister outlined a number of modifications to the Bill and announced that the government continued to engage stakeholders on the bill ahead of resubmission before MPs.
