Tuesday the 29th of March, 2022, will go down in history as the greatest day in the life of Ghana following four historic events that occurred.
On this day the President of the Republic Nana Akufo-Addo celebrated his 78th birthday in the morning.
At midday, the first-ever interchange to be constructed in the Northern region was commissioned inTamale.
Around the same time the Parliament of Ghana, after months of disagreement and confrontation, passed the first electronic transaction tax.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Black Stars of Ghana against all odds went to Nigeria to lift the flag of Ghana High by qualifying for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar
E-levy
Parliament has passed the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (Levy) following a bizarre walkout by the Minority group.
The Minority stormed out of the Chamber before the House moved to the consideration stage of the Bill after the Motion had been read a second time and debated.
Proposed amendments standing in the name of some Minority MPs were, therefore, withdrawn because none of them was in the Chamber to move those amendments in their name.
Finance Minister
The Levy was also amended from 1.75% to 1.5% by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, who indicated the purpose of the bill is to broaden the tax base of the country to enhance the government’s drive for revenue mobilization.
The Levy, he said, expected to raise approximately GH¢6.963 billion in 2022 is a key mechanism that the government will use to help ensure more Ghanaians contribute their fair share towards the development of the country.
He said, “The proceeds shall be used to tackle the seeming challenges of youth unemployment, inadequate and poor fiscal and digital infrastructure including poor roads, rising public debts and diminishing entrepreneurship culture.”
Majority leader
Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu addressed the media on the development afterwards and indicated the 2022 Budget Statement, which was presented to the House by the government and duly approved by consensus, contained the proposed E-levy.
According to him, Parliament’s approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, by extension also approved the E-levy.
He stated that following approval of the budget there should be a revenue stream that will feed into the Consolidated Fund with allocations made to the various ministries, departments, agencies and sectors of the economy.
He said, “The estimates allocated to these sectors, constitutional and statutory creatures include the anticipation from the levy. Reference was made to the various committees who went and considered these allocations, the estimates of revenues and expenditures and submitted their reports.”
“And when the reports came to Parliament, the entire House approved of these estimates made to the various sectors, the MDAs as the constitutional and statutory bodies; we approve of them by consensus, and some by unanimity.”
According to him, because the E-levy was a new tax that was being introduced, it needed to be grounded on an appropriate legal regime, which is the E-levy Bill and which was done on Tuesday, March 29.
Hon. Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu argued after taking the three exercises of approving the budget, approving the various estimates and passing the Appropriation Bill, could anybody then turn around to say Parliament disapproved of the law to support the E-levy that had already been approved through the three stages.
Minority leader
The Minority who had earlier complained the unexpected consideration of the levy had taken them by surprise argued the approval is null and void because the House did not constitute a quorum to make a decision.
It disclosed it will immediately file a challenge to question the legitimacy of the decision taken by less than one-third of members of Parliament.
Speaking to the media, Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu argued less than 137 members were in the Chamber conducting business at the time of the approval and indicated this was illegality and unconstitutional business as contained in Article 104 and interpreted by the Supreme Court.
According to him, the approval of the E-levy is therefore a charade because there is a judicial determination on what constitutes a voting quorum.
He said, “The Supreme Court drew their own distinction between what they called a general quorum or a typical quorum and a voting quorum, and the voting quorum being a decision quorum.”
“We are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Parliament did not have the numbers to make a decision that should be binding on Parliament and binding on the Ghanaian people.”
He stated that what Parliament was purported to have done and led by the Majority group with less than 137 members only amounted to a charade of approving of ‘a so-called E-levy’; subjecting it to second reading, consideration, procedural amendment and third reading.
Source: Mypublisher24.com
