Deputy Majority leader in Parliament Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin has expressed worry about the Russian attacks on Ukraine and the repercussion it will have on the Ghanaian economy and the citizenry.
He pointed out that the fear of Russian invasion of Ukraine will affect the value-chain on imports, costs and duties and also affect the lives of Ghanaians regardless of the fact they are not participants in the crisis.
“If we look at what is happening to the cedi; now the dollar is moving around a certain figure. There is going to be pressure on the limited resources that we have as a nation.
“Ghanaian businesses that are supposed to do well and pay taxes are going to suffer; they will not do well the way they expect because their projections will be affected.
The Deputy Majority leader’s lamentations followed concerns raised by Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu on the happenings in Ukraine and the effects on the Ghanaian public.
He indicated that the matter is indeed of urgent public importance and argued it is not politics.
“This is not NDC or NPP. This is about an international catastrophe that is affecting mother Ghana and the need for us to take away the politics and have a new way of thinking to support the government.
Calls to evacuate Ghanaian citizens from Ukraine, he said, will come at a cost and stressed Europe, NATO or the United States will not do that for Ghana.
Minority Leader’s plea
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu had earlier invoked Order 72 to raise the matter and appealed to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Finance to work together towards the immediate evacuation of Ghanaian students living in Ukraine and to take steps to ensure their safety.
This, he said, must be done to assure the students and their parents that they are Ghanaians and deserve state support and added, “So it is a matter of public importance.”
The Finance Minister, he said, must make money available to the Foreign Minister for the evacuation of the Ghanaian students.
He argued the number of students, especially those studying medicine in Ukraine is known to the state and that some were even sponsored by members of Parliament and cautioned the situation is serious and worrying.
E-Levy
In response, Deputy Majority Leader Afenyo-Markin reiterated that the Russia-Ukraine war will affect Ghana’s economy.
This, he pointed out, is the more reason to pass the Electronic Transaction Levey (E-levy) to enable the government raise revenue to sustain social interventions in the country.
He said the call to evacuate Ghanaians in Ukraine will come at a cost to the state and put more burden on the already scarce resources hence the need to look at innovative ways to generate revenue, i.e. E-levy.
According to him, the passage of the E-levy in these “abnormal times” is the best way to raise revenue for the country’s development.
“There’s going to be pressure on the limited resources that we have and as a nation, Ghanaian businesses who are supposed to do well to pay taxes, they are going to suffer, their businesses will not do well the way they expect.
“We should congregate around it and find a way of generating revenue as a country to save the situation because we are not in normal times,” he added.
He said this was not the time for partisan politics but the time for the Majority and Minority to work together.
E-levy is a proposed 1.75 per cent tax on all electronic transactions.
A section of Ghanaians including the Minority in parliament have kicked against its passage, insisting it will burden the ordinary Ghanaian.
However, government believes it is surest way to raise enough revenue to prevent a return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also to prevent the economy from collapse.
Atta Akyea’s take
MP for Abuakwa South and former MP for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, expressed gratitude MPs have discarded their differences and have spoken in one voice in the interest of Ghanaians in trouble.
Support for national issues, he said, is good and prayed for more of such common purposes because that is the essence of having a very vibrant Parliament.
He observed that the safety of Ghanaians in Ukraine cannot be guaranteed judging from what the US, Russia and the rest of the world powers are saying.
“We don’t have to play lottery with their lives because we don’t trust the next military manoeuvre that is going to come from the Russian leader and our best bet is that it’s good to be educated but not to die prematurely.
“Let’s bring them to the place of safety and when the situation returns to normalcy they could always go back,” he added.
