Parliament in the wee hours of the morning of Saturday approved the 2022 Appropriations Bill without the much-talked about E-Levy.
Appropriations Bill gives power to the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund for meeting the expenditure during the financial year.
The debate and decision on the controversial E-Levy has been deferred to Monday (20 December) based on a request by the minority in Parliament.
The minority caucus in Parliament has kicked against the government’s 2022 Budget, describing it as not being sensitive to the needs of Ghanaians and businesses as the E-Levy would heighten the economic hardship of the people.
Best-ever budget
Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the senior presidential advisor, says the 2022 Budget is one of the best Ghana has ever produced because of its focus on youth entrepreneurship and employable skills development.
He cited the infusion of the Electronic levy (E-Levy) in the proposed budget towards funding entrepreneurship programmes as one of the best decisions of the government.
Osafo-Maafo made the remarks at the unveiling of the new Ghana TVET Service at the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) in Accra on Tuesday on the theme: “Stirring Ghana’s industrialisation drive through skill acquisition for national development.”
The new Ghana TVET will bring the 187 TVET institutions spread across 19 ministries under one umbrella towards revamping and mainstreaming technical and vocational education in Ghana.
“Indeed, this current budget is one of the best this country has ever produced because there are two things in it which are fundamental and these are entrepreneurship training that we are putting as part of the responsibility of government to ensure that the youth is resourced financially to be entrepreneurial, that people cannot use access to funds as a handicap.
“That people can develop skills and become entrepreneurs. The introduction of the E-Levy is extremely critical. These two things in this budget, people must hail it, it is fundamentally a good document,” Osafo-Maafo stated.
He charged the country’s youth to move beyond the “I want a job mentality” to embracing a mentality of “I am creating a job for myself and others.”
Osafo-Maafo chronicled the TVET education in Ghana, saying that it provided a platform for making TVET a driver of development and urged to take advantage of the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) offered to make a headway in life.
Philip Asiawo
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