Some residents of Walewale, in the North East Region, have petitioned Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to intercede and stop the E levy Bill from becoming law.
They claim that by storing their business capital on the mobile money platform rather than maintaining cash, they are protected against robbery.
As a result, residents warned that passage of the fee would have negative consequences, including the failure of their enterprises.
Hamidu Abakar, a refrigerator mechanic, told JoyNews that the fee will put a strain on his meager salary.
“We don’t want the E-levy today; we don’t want it tomorrow.” So we want Mr. Bawumia, the Vice President, to come out and urge the Majority to stop pushing for it,” he said.
Mohammed Rabiw, a Civil Servant, believes the tax policy is regressive and should be repealed immediately.
“It [the E-levy] will not solve Ghana’s problems.” Are they [the government] promising that if this levy passes, they would not raise taxes next year? I believe they are simply looking for the quickest route out.
“Our senior brother, Dr. Bawumia, has even stated that taxing MoMo is not a good idea, so are we claiming that everything he told us was a lie?” He interrogated.
Adding his voice, a former Northern Region Minister, Abubakari Abdallah, sent what he described as “an important word” to Dr Bawumia.
According to him, the Walewale constituency is a prime location for armed robbers, especially on market days; thus, traders can secure their business capital by saving it on mobile money.
In view of that, imposing the 1.75% tax will only intensify the hardships of these traders.
“When market women travel to and from the big markets in the region, they are rampantly attacked by robbers where they lose their capital. The only haven for these women is to elude the robbers by saving on their momo wallets.
“So if the policy is good for everyone in Ghana, I would want to remind my big brother that tax is not good for his people in the Walewale area, so he should reconsider,” he intimated.
He further noted that the desperate attempt to impose the tax policy on the citizenry exposes government’s incompetence.
“Nobody needs to tell you that this government is desperate. They have mismanaged the economy, and their performance so far is so abysmal and appalling that they have decided to look everywhere and anywhere for money,” he said.
Source: GhanaFeed.com