I Feel So Guilty For Joining Akufo-Addo To Protest Against VAT In 1995 – Kwesi Pratt

Kwesi Pratt, Editor In-chief of the Insight newspaper has expressed guilt for joining President Akufo-Addo in 1995 to protest against Value Added Tax (VAT) by then National Democratic Congress (NDC) government only for him to ascend to power and do worse.

He wondered why the President would suddenly implement something he tremendously rejected years back and back it with many excuses.

“I have a sense of guilt. I have a huge sense of guilt. And why do I have a huge sense of guilt? In this country in 1995, I joined Nana Akufo-Addo[now President Nana Akufo-Addo]… and we waged a very successful campaign against the introduction of the Value Added Tax(VAT). One of the arguments we put out then was that VAT was a regressive tax. Has VAT all of a sudden become a progressive tax? Is VAT no longer a regressive tax?” he was quoted by mynewsgh.

Today some of us have the opportunity to be in government to implement the very ideas against which we mobilised people onto the streets and people died. After increasing VAT, how do we look into the eyes of the family of Ahudu Honga[ who died in a demonstration against VAT] and feel good about ourselves?” he quizzed on Pan African TV.

Source: GhanaFeed.com