Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has come under fire on the social media platform; Twitter, over a tweet he posted way back in 2014.
During the period, under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama-government, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah who was then vying to contest a seat in Parliament, criticized the government for burdening Ghanaian with more taxes.
In response to a question posed on taxes, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah asserted that, “What government needs to do is to be bold and cut cost. Not squeeze the dying for more taxes… much waste even… Shocked!”.
This tweet, has however come back to bite the current Information Minister of the governing New Patriotic Party, with various tweeps, and citizens wading into his recent tweet to commend parliament over the passage of three revenue bills on Friday March 31, 2023. Moreover, he has been bashed on social media for the uncanniness of the decisions made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in acceptance and passage of the New Tax Bills.
Members of the majority caucus in parliament, amid drama and long hours, passed through three revenue bills, which government believes would support its revenue mobilization, even as the country continues to face a wave of economic challenges.
The taxes passed include Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill.
“Commendations to @parliament_gh for doing its part last night. We look to the conclusion of financing assurances from the external stakeholders so we can lock down the IMF board approval for the B.O.P. Support program,” Oppong-Nkrumah on April 1, 2023, wrote after the bills were passed by parliament.
Leading the pack in harsh responses to the minister’s comments, is the special aide to former president John Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, who somewhat lambasted the Information Minister for making such a comment.
She further reminded him of how low the current government has served the people of Ghana, by squeezing them with more taxes and leading the economy into a ditch, requiring an IMF intervention to turnaround the fortunes of the country.
“My Brother I hope you are even more shocked at how low the govt in which you serve as Information Minister has sunk, now you are literally squeezing the ‘dead’, for more taxes! such recklessness! I am gobsmacked,” Mogtari wrote in response to Oppong-Nkrumah’s resurfaced tweet on taxes from 2014.
Convenor of the #FixTheCountry pressure group, Oliver Baker-Vomawor on his part, wrote a simple response indicating that, “politics in this Country is a vortex!” in regards to the resurfaced tweet posted by Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah.
Other Twitter Users Criticize The Minister Of Information
Some Twitter users, have also waded into the conversation to express their displeasure against the comments made by the Information Minister and have since reminded him, of his stance on the same topic back in 2014.
“Politics in this Country is a vortex We thank you for burdening us more”, a Twitter user tweeted.
Another individual on Twitter asked “What happened to from “taxation to production?”.
Another commented “Shameful. You impose hardship on citizens, even before you get the financing assurances from external stakeholders? DDEP wiped out our investments, inflation has decimated our incomes and all you gloat about making our yoke heavier just so you get IMF deal? Vincent paaaa.”
“Credibility crisis. The evil that men do,” another said.
Thus the Tweeting space, has not taken it easy with the tweets of the Information Minister, over the implementation of the New Tax Bills.
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