The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has complained that the government is again seeking parliamentary approval for a tax exemption of about $100 million for giant corporations at a time when the country's economy is almost on its knees.
According to lawmakers, it is incomprehensible that the same government that claims the economy will collapse if the controversial Electrocin Transfer Levy (Levy) bill is not passed, continues to recklessly grant tax exemptions to "cronies" who have the financial means to pay.
In a post made on his Facebook page on Saturday, February 12, Ablakwa said “this country cannot keep burdening the suffering masses and watch helplessly as mighty conglomerates collude with their cronies in power to avoid paying their fair share”.
He went further to call on Ghanaians to “fight and defeat this spider’s web taxation system which only catches small fly MoMo users as the corporatocracy break through with impunity”.
“This week alone, the government presented tax exemption requests to parliament in favour of giant companies valued at about US$100million.
“A government claiming revenue shortfalls and desperate to implement an obnoxious and regressive E-Levy which is most punitive to the poor should not be aiding big businesses to rig the system,” the MP wrote.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker who happens to be one of the vociferous in opposing the E-levy Bill said the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party government has reneged on all its promises to Ghanaians including the ones on taxation.
“In his 2017 Message on the State of the Nation, President Akufo-Addo pledged to fix our broken tax exemptions regime, except that, like many other promises, we need to send him a reminder.”
On Friday, the previous day, Ablakwa had chided President Akufo-Addo’s consistent use of expensive private jet for his foreign travels at the expense of the suffering taxpayer despite criticisms.
“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo demonstrated beyond any shred of doubt that his blatant contempt, gross insensitivity and utter disdain for the Ghanaian people who made him President have no boundaries, whatsoever.
“On the very same day and literally during the “Yentua March” by thousands of Ghanaians from all walks of life who took to the streets of Accra to register their revulsion in the strongest of terms against the obnoxious E-Levy and government's profligate dissipation of current taxes, loans and other resources which have led to a downgraded economy now in the ICU; President Akufo-Addo, in the most heartless, scornful and outrightly insulting conduct yet, opted for the umpteenth time to abandon Ghana's Presidential Jet and fly out of the country aboard his chartered US14,000 an hour ultra-luxury executive jet — the Boeing 737-97Y(ER)(BBJ3), registered LX-DIO,”
The President left Ghana on Thursday, February 10, 2022, to begin a 10-day working visit to France, Guyana, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.