Ghanaians deserve transparency in use of E-Levy funds – Ken Ashigbey

1.5% Levy charged on electronic transfers

E-Levy not generating projected revenue

E-Levy will not be scrapped despite IMF bailout

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, has stated that it is fair for Ghanaians to demand transparency from the government in funds generated from the electronic transaction levy.

According to him, accountability is mostly a problem for Ghanaians as a lot of things have been maligned with regards to government revenue and expenditure.

“I think it is fair to ask that if we’ve decided that we are taking this tax for a particular purpose, we are able to go back and see if it is being used for that particular purpose. For me, as a corporate governance student, I think that transparency and providing information, by the people who are in positions of responsibility is important.”

“And I don’t think we do enough of that. It is something we need to do constantly if we want to take out all the clouds and perceptions of suspicion. If we could even have a website that customers can go to find out with regards to how much is coming in and what the funds are being used for, it will be helpful,” he said this in an interview with CitiNews.

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has bemoaned the state of the country’s revenue generation.

According to him, despite the passage of the Electronic Transfer Levy in March 2022 and subsequent implementation in May, the tax measure is only delivering 10 percent of the estimated revenues for the country.

On Monday, June 27, 2022, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko stated in a series of tweets that Ghana's revenue generation is still relatively low in comparison to the rest of the world.

He also bemoaned the rising debt level, which reached GH¢391.9 billion at the end of March 2022.

“After 5 months of stalemate and bashing, the e-levy, after implementation, is delivering only 10% of estimated revenues; our revenues remain very low as compared to the rest of the world; debt levels dangerously high, cedi, like most currencies, struggling against the US dollar,” he wrote.

SSD/MA