We use money to fix a country, not water – Derek Oduro

A former Deputy Defence Minister, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro has defended the 2022 budget saying, no one uses “water to fix a country but money”.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, reading the 2022 budget in Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, said government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions.

According to him, Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.

He also said the Government has suspended 50% benchmark values on selected general goods and the 30% on vehicles to make the measure more efficient and targeted.

Read Also: Govt’s E-levy system best bet for development –Derek Oduro

Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro also said no president has ever used his pocket money to develop the country, saying taxation was the best way to go.

“We all know that if we want to fix the country, and we hold placards calling on government to fix the country and we are jumping, we don’t use water to fix a country, we use money to fix a country,” he said.

He continued,”No President has taken money out of his pocket to fix the country, it is taxes, grants and loans.”

Major(rtd) Derek Oduro said the NDC realised the introduction of the taxes was the best and decided to go on radio stations to make it look bad in the eyes of the people.

He said the NPP Government was fixing the country, adding that the government was using a radical approach in order to generate money to fix the country despite being hit by the covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Major(rtd) Derek Oduro said the public has to give the NPP-Government credit because it has abolished a lot of taxes including the Kayayee tax, saying all these taxes were there during the NDC’s reign.

“What they are tagging as wicked budget, we call it Agyenkwa budget. We heard them say it is the best way every government will use to raise funds and when you look at the incidence of taxes, considering equity, certainty, and economy, the budget meets all criteria. We will not tax anyone sending money below GHC100,” He said.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]