Aspiring General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah has described the walkout staged by the Minority during the debate on the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill as a grave disservice to the Ghanaian people and a most cowardly act.
According to him, regardless of the numbers, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority should have stayed in the House and effect changes in the Bill at the consideration stage.
“If they had an issue with the E-levy, the most responsible thing to have done, for me, would have been to sit through the consideration stage of the bill and file amendments.
“At the consideration stage of a bill you need not even give notice of an amendment, you can seek the Speaker’s intervention and go ahead straight away,” he stated.
Speaking on TV3’s analytical talk show “The Key Points”, on Saturday, Mr. Opare-Ansah argued the opposition could have proposed an amendment or included in the bill for the government to create an E-levy Fund to deposit all the levies into it just like former President Kufuor did with HIPC funds.
“So that whenever the government spends our E-levy on infrastructure or whatever service it delivers, Ghanaians will know that they are seeing the benefits of the levy being collected.
“The Minority could have asked the government or through Parliament by the passage of the Bill to include this in the law”, he pointed out.
Similarity
The former Suhum MP disclosed that in 2016 the NDC government through the Ministry of Communications sought to amend the Electronic Communications Act to give authority to an entity called Inter-connectivity Clearing House (ICH) to do what KelniGVG is doing today.
According to him, he did not run away from Parliament but filed an amendment as an opposition MP to bar the ICH from delivering revenue assurance services to the government for the simple reason that it is an interconnect clearinghouse and the government is already charging the communication service tax on inter-connect traffic.
The entire House, he said, supported and passed his amendment.
Mr. Opare-Ansah argued that the Minority members should have done similar and filed amendments to the E-Levy Bill to enrich it.
He pointed out that the Finance Minister only sent a proposal of the E-levy to Parliament because he cannot impose the tax because that prerogative is for the House.
The NPP aspiring General Secretary stressed there was therefore no justification for the Minority group to claim a lack of information or difficulties in negotiating with the government.
The Finance Minister, he said, may have been difficult but indicated the right to impose the law is that of the MPs and therefore the Minority should not have walked out.
Responding, a co-panelist and NDC MP for Cape Coast South, Mr. Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan stated that the minority staged a walkout because they rejected the E-Levy as a tax policy and did not want it passed at all.
Suit at Supreme Court
Commenting on the suit filed at the Supreme Court to challenge passage of the levy, Mr. Opare-Ansah said the Minority group knows all its attempts will not yield the desired results but is determined to push the matter as far as possible and milk it as much as it can.
He argued the present record is that 137 MPs passed the levy and since the Minority did not raise the matter of quorum inside the Chamber and demanded a headcount or division, per Parliamentary business, the House was constituted legally to make a decision.
According to him, someone would have had to raise the matter inside the Chamber so it would go into the records of Parliament, which the Minority can then present to the Supreme Court to back its case.
“As it stands now, there is no such thing yet and they know it. Yet they have proceeded to the Supreme Court,” he added.
