The Finance Committee of Parliament has given the greenlight for the 1.75% E-Levy to be discussed on the floor of the House following a majority decision at the Committee level.
The House will finally vote on the controversial levy after further discussions.
There was Chaos in parliament on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 after First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Wusu ruled in favour of the NPP following Minority’s motion to set aside Tuesday’s 2022 budget approval.
The 2022 budget statement was on Friday rejected by the country’s Parliament after a heated debate.
Read Also: We’ll continue to resist 1.75% E-Levy – Minority Caucus
The rejection was made possible after all 137 Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) voted against the motion on Friday while members of the Majority Caucus had abandoned their seats in protest against alleged bias on the part of the Speaker of Parliament Prior to the crucial voting, the Speaker had called for a head count to establish if the House had form a quorum in order to proceed.
A quorum was formed per the Speaker’s judgement even though members of the Majority caucus had staged a walkout.
But on Tuesday, the budget was approved by the Majority in the absence of the Minority.
While in parliament to make further deliberations on the budget, the Minority suggested that the budget’s approval be reversed.
But the First Deputy Speaker overruled the motion by the Minority Leader to reverse the approval of the budget leading to attempts by some Minority MPs to snatch the Mace, which is the symbol of authority in Parliament.
This caused chaos with some MPs confronting each other.
Later, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus in Parliament assured the public that it will continue to use every legitimate and lawful channel to resist the 1.75% E-Levy government is seeking to impose on the ordinary Ghanaian.
According to them, their position from the outset of the 2022 Budget debate has been that the 1.75% E-Levy government is seeking to impose is regressive, punitive and draconian, and that same must be suspended.
However, 1.75% E-Levy was passed today, December 20, 2021, pending approval in parliament at the time of filing this report.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]
