The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the Minority caucus in parliament will be testing the Vice President’s claim to remove certain taxes when elected as President in the 2024 general elections.
Mr. Ablakwa said that the Minority will be introducing a private member’s bill that seeks the removal of some ‘nuisance’ taxes and solicits the Vice President’s support in carrying that through. He doubted the Vice President’s claim of removing certain taxes if given the opportunity as President and argued that he had been part of the Economic Management Team (EMT) that introduced those taxes in the first place.
“The Vice President who sat in secret with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and approved all of these taxes, now they have an opportunity. We are going to bring the private member’s bill. We want to test his sincerity now. We are not going to wait until after the polls.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
He added that the Vice President does not have to wait to become President before doing something about the harsh taxes imposed on Ghanaians by President Nana Akufo-Addo and the Economic Management Team headed by him.
Mr. Ablakwa heavily criticized Dr. Bawumia for shying away, in his public lecture, from the hardships facing the country as a result of his bad advice to the President on economic matters. According to the North Tongu MP, Dr. Bawumia is the cause of Ghana’s hardships per the testimony of President Akufo-Addo who praised him highly for Ghana’s positive economic performance between 2017 and 2019.
He emphasized that it is the same Dr. Bawumia who is heading the EMT today so it is ‘irresponsible’ of him to take credit when all is good and blame it on others when things go south.
He added that the conduct of the Vice President is an indication that he cannot be trusted as President of the country for the next four years.
Ghana Football In Trenches
When asked a question about the state of Ghana football currently, the North Tongu MP expressed his dissatisfaction with the current administration of football in the country.
He alleged that the Ghana Football Association has been in the habit of spending more than necessary and yet there is nothing to show for those spending.
“Remember that I intercepted the document, the $8.5m budget [Black Stars AFCON budget]. If you see how much money is going into football and yet we don’t have even FIFA standard pitches, no sports policy, Ghana football is in a mess, and we cannot accept this. I fully endorse the SaveGhanaFootball demonstration.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The SaveGhanaFootball demonstration, led by very prominent Ghanaian sports journalists, follows the exit of Ghana’s Senior National Team from the just-ended African Cup of Nations hosted and won by Ivory Coast.
The leaders of the demonstration accuse the Ghana Football Association of being corrupt, and careless of the consequences of their actions as football administrators. They also alleged that contrary to the claim of the GFA’s Secretariat that they had appealed the ban on Ghana’s under-17 female team for age cheating, they lied to the public per FIFA’s correspondence that the GFA failed to appeal the ban even when they were given opportunities to do so.
Demonstrators also demand explanations from the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ministry for Youth and Sports for the poor state of the country’s stadia despite the huge budgetary allocations that are made for them every year.
They are confident that the demonstration will cause the GFA to sit up and possibly lead to some structural changes in how football administration is done in Ghana.
The demonstration which started at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, this morning, will see demonstrators march to the Independence Square in Accra where they will submit a petition to Parliament, Ghana Football Association, and National Sports Authority.
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