Majority insist it had quorum to pass E-levy
Minority head to Supreme Court to halt implementation of E-levy
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has dismissed reports that the Minority walkout was a compromise to aid the Majority to pass the E-Levy bill.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy News, Mr. Ablakwa described the Minority's walkout as a ‘tactical maneuver'.
He stressed that the governing New Patriotic Party would not dare to make an offer to the Minority side, adding that no amount of money will serve as an inducement for them to back down on their stance against E-levy.
He urged people to stop peddling falsehoods that Minority MPs had agreed a deal with the Majority.
“So far as we are concerned, this E-Levy has not been passed. We are nowhere near the end of this war. It is a war. Our resistance has always been a war.
“We are clear in our minds. It is not a battle. This was a tactical maneuver and to have people think that we have been compromised…please, please.
“Who in the NPP can reach out to us to want to enter into a deal that will betray the people? How dare you think about that. The NPP knows. They won’t dare approach us with such a gross betrayal of the people. For what? It won’t happen.
“Not for silver not for gold, no amount of inducement….not for all the money at the Bank of Ghana…not for all the gold, the diamond, the timber the bauxite that we have…we cannot be compromised and we would not be compromised.
“It is also about our legacy, how we want to be remembered by posterity. How do we want our children to be remembered? It is also about the people we represent.
“It is also about our political careers. You think I want to end my political career after a clear mandate from my constituents? How am I going to face them, how am I going to go back to my constituents and ask for the renewal of my mandate? People should stop that,” Mr. Ablakwa emphasized.
Parliament on March 29 passed the E-Levy bill amid a Minority walkout.
They later addressed a press conference at which Majority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, justified the walkout stating among others that it did not want to give the Majority a quorum for decision making.
Haruna and two other MPs have since filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the passage of the E-levy bill.
North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa