Ghanaian music legend and President of the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO), Rex Omar, has descended on the Akuffo-Addo-led government for the passage of the E-levy tax bill.
According to the GHAMRO President, the e-levy will not only immensely affect the ordinary Ghanaian, but state institutions as well if care is not taken. He suggested that the government should find scientific and other creative ways to ensure that most of the people in the informal sector pay taxes rather than forcing the controversial E-levy on Ghanaians.
According to Rex, Ghanaians are against how the government has mismanaged state funds but not against paying of taxes. Rex Omar claimed that the NPP government’s interest is not the money they are expecting to get from E-levy, however, “they are interested in just collateralizing the E-levy so that they can continue to borrow”.
“As a serious government that has gone round to seek the opinion of people, if they care and respect the people who elected them, they will find a different way to make revenue without finding dubious means to force this e-levy down the throat of the people,” Rex Omar said.
The ‘Didada’ hitmaker, comparing the Kuffuor-led administration to that of the current one, averred that this particular government has been “reckless” with its work.
“It is like a clique which has had their way by tricky means to impose themselves on this country. We have been under NPP before. Kufuor’s NPP is completely different from this particular NPP. This particular NPP is the most reckless. They want to bamboozle their way in all matters. This is dangerous and it is wrong”.
Rex Omar
The system will be difficult to repair- Rex Omar
The GHAMRO President lamented that the system has currently been damaged to the extent that he pities the next government, since it is going to take a very long time for Ghana to recover from the damage caused by the current government. Rex Omar postulated that if truly the government or political leadership had managed the economy well and it has come to a crunch, the people would even agree to forfeit 50 percent of their salaries to help rebuild the country.
“Look, something is wrong, and the earlier everybody speaks up, the better. The way things are going, in the next two years, another government will come; I pity the next government, I pity the next President. There is so much damage that it will take Ghana a long time to recover what these people have done within a period of six years to Ghana”.
Rex Omar
“It is clear that the leaders of the country are telling Ghanaians to do what they say but are ignoring what they should do. Thus, they are telling us to allow them to still live in their comfort zone and let them put their burdens on us,” Rex Omar said.
On March 29, 2022, parliament approved the contested E-levy bill that will introduce a 1.5 percent taxation on electronic money transfers. But for some Ghanaians, the tax represents an additional burden on top of the high cost of living. Some Ghanaians have opposed the bill and some declared that they will stop using electronic means of money transfer if the bill is passed.
Read also: The War Against E-levy Is Not Over- Okudzeto Ablakwa
