- “I dare say and I appeal to them (opposition) to cooperate with the government and work with us to pass this levy."
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communication and Digitisation, has appealed to the minority and those opposed to the passage of the E-Levy to help and cooperate with the government to pass the bill.
Using the success chalked in the telecommunications industry as an example after the communications service tax was fiercely opposed upon its introduction in 2008, Ursula said the post-implementation of the E-Levy bill will be nothing short of success.
Speaking at the town hall meeting in Koforidua on Thursday (27 January), Owusu-Ekuful said: “I dare say and I appeal to them (opposition) to cooperate with the government and work with us to pass this levy as well because ultimately, the results that we got from the communication service tax which clearly did not destroy the industry, will also be evident, post-implementation of this levy as we are all working collectively to enhance access to and use of digital platforms.”
Speaking on the same platform, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, said the introduction of the E-Levy by the NPP government is not the most egregious tax ever to be passed in this country.
Ofori-Atta said the introduction of the E-Levy has been necessitated by the country’s quest to develop using its own resources and not through constant borrowings from external sources.
The minister said the country cannot afford to enter into another programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the restrictions could not help the country’s development at this time.
Nicholas Brown
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