You will have the ‘moral authority’ to demand accountability if you pay e-levy – Ofori-Atta to Ghanaians

Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Finance Minister, feels that the e-levy will give Ghanaians a moral right to demand their due from the government.

Mr. Ofori-Atta said the e-levy will also be a step towards what he called “the Ghanaian dream”.

Mr. Ofori-Atta made these remarks during the government’s second town hall to persuade Ghanaians to accept the contentious levy.

“Once you pay taxes, you will have the moral authority to be able to require certain performance from the political elite, and that is what we should be doing.”

“Our call to you is to let your MPs know that beyond all of this the Ghana dream will require that we are all part of this burden-sharing…to build our country,” he added.

The administration has also defended the charge, claiming that it is required to broaden the tax base.

In 2022, the government anticipates the levy to provide an additional GH 6.9 billion to fund development initiatives.

According to the budget, road infrastructure development should receive up to 0.25 percentage points of the 1.75 percent e-transaction fee, or 16.7 percent of the levy’s revenue.

10% of the 0.25 percentage points, or 1.67 percent of the levy’s revenue, would be committed to public transit improvements, including the purchase of buses.

Mr Ofori-Atta went on to say that his government, which has been chastised for its prodigality and corruption, would do its most to prevent leaks.

“We also looked at our fiscal consolidation, in which we then said that we were going to try and reduce our deficit in a way that enables us to get a lot more resources for that.

“We will be reminded to ensure that we use this money well, and the issue of protecting the public purse becomes paramount to us,” the minister said.