The Majority in Parliament has lashed out at the Minority caucus in Parliament, describing their opposition to new tax bills as hypocritical.
According to the First Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu, the Minority group agreed to the new taxes during committee meetings, before the sudden change of mind.
The majority of Ghanaians had called on Parliament to reject the bills, but Parliament managed to get most of their members in the House to pass the bills on Friday.
However, the Minority in Parliament rejected criticisms that they failed to mount a spirited fight, to gather opposition for the rejection of the bills.
Speaking on Monday, Habib Iddrisu said the position of the Minority is not founded on principle.
“What our colleagues on the Minority side exhibited on Friday, is hypocrisy to the highest order. Because, if you look at the report that came from the Finance Committee, it was agreed. At the committee level, it was agreed upon in consensus.
“We all agreed that the revenue bills must be passed, only for them to take a different decision when we resumed to Parliament.”
Habib Iddrisu
Parliament on Friday, March 31, passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.
The financial bills seek to raise about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually, as part of domestic revenue mobilization. The bills are also crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval, for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme staff-level agreement.
The Minority in Parliament however, earlier communicated its opposition to the bills but the bills were passed, despite an MP from the majority, suffering a near-fatal accident, on his way to the House.
The Minority Caucus was demanding that the ruling NPP first allowed the Electoral Commission (EC) to include the guarantor system in its proposed Constitutional Instrument, before it would support the bills.
Sam George Refuses To Blame Minority For Passage Of New Taxes
Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, in an interview on Monday, suggested that the clerks in Parliament had some questions to answer on how they went about Friday’s head count.
“If we had acquiesced, we wouldn’t have gone through the vote, we wouldn’t have accounted for our 136, we wouldn’t have challenged what appeared to be an error in counting. We are aware now that at the time we did the first count, Mohammed Tuferu was not in Parliament.
“There are two [majority] MPs who also walked in after the clerks had finished taking the vote from the majority side. So clearly, that vote shouldn’t have read 136, 137, but be that as it may, the Speaker only announces what is presented to him.”
Sam Nartey George
He added that “the clerks have a question to answer, as to how they managed to get 137.”
The Minority in Parliament earlier communicated its opposition to the bills, but the bills were passed, without any understanding into what really happened on that Friday evening in Parliament House.
The passage of the bills was required for Ghana to obtain board-level agreement for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. However, the bills will increase some income taxes, company taxes, and the excise duty on cigarettes and various alcoholic and sweetened beverages.
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