The overwhelming resistance to the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) should not be interpreted as a lack of willingness on the part of Ghanaians to pay taxes, according to Kojo Twum Boafo, a major member of the National Democratic Congress.
Ghanaians, he claims, are opposed to the E-levy because it smacks of state expropriation and extortion.
Twum Boafo, speaking on Citi TV as part of a panel debate, blamed President Akufo-Addo and members of his government for the resistance to the E-levy on their wealthy and ostentatious lifestyles.
He claims that Ghanaians have witnessed what he views to be the government’s waste of public cash and are unwilling to fund such waste.
The former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority cited President Akufo-Addo’s alleged hiring of luxurious private jets as one of the things fueling the opposition to the E-levy.
“Ghanaians are refusing to accept the E-levy because of the way you’ve mismanaged the other taxes you’ve collected. What they use the money for is to sit in 50-car SUV convoys, ride around in bulletproof Maybach.
“What they do with our taxes is to rent private aircraft at enormous expense for the president to fly in. In a country that you claim to be nearing economic collapse, the president of this republic still insists that he will fly around in jet which some say they’ve already procured,” he said.
Twum Boafo noted that instead of hiring private jets, the government could have channeled the funds into restarting a national airline.
He mentioned Togo as an example of a country that has used its resources well and now has a booming national airline.
“What would have happened if you use that money to start a new airline. Wouldn’t that money have created new jobs for young people. Wouldn’t we have created pilots and technicians. Wouldn’t we have spurned a whole new industry like the Togolese have with A-Sky,” he said.