Finance Minister, Ken ofori-Atta has said the introduction of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) must not spark any form of insurrection in Ghana despite the general outburst against it.
His comments come after Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor, a social media activist was charged with treason felony for allegedly stating that he would stage a coup in Ghana if Parliament passes the E-Levy bill.
Speaking at a townhall meeting on the economy in the Upper West Region on Monday (21 February), Ofori-Atta said: “For all it ills, if really you transfer a million cedis a year and the state asks you GHC 15,000, is that too much to address the issues of our debts, our infrastructure and youth employment?”
“If you make GHC100,000 of transfer a year and I take GHC1, 500 from you, is that too much to warrant an insurrection?” Ofori Atta asked.
He therefore questioned the continuous opposition of the E-Levy by the Minority in Parliament.
“And if I look at Upper West [Region] of where we have 11 constituencies of which we have Nandom, Lambussie and Tumu, and we have 340,000 people within the age bracket of 15 and 35 with serious issues of unemployment and with eight of our MPs coming from the NDC.
“What reason will they have to stop an E-Levy which is looking at GHC10 billion intervention called YouStart to get at the issue of employment. You hate NPP all you want, but what about your 340,000 youth who need jobs, where is the republic versus policy…,” Ofori-Atta said.
GhanaFeed.com
