A former Deputy Communications Minister in the John Mahama government, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lacks the credibility to question Mr. Mahama’s commitment to fulfilling his promise of repealing the controversial E-levy law if the NDC wins power in 2024.
He said unlike John Mahama, there are a number of instances where the NPP and its leaders have made bold declarations about taxes they will scrap when they assume office but failed to do so.
He argued that John Mahama can be trusted to fulfil his E-levy promise and that will be announced in his government’s first budget after assuming office.
“Akufo-Addo and Bawumia and everybody in the NPP do not have the credibility to come and question anybody about whether they will repeal the tax or not because VAT which gives us in excess of GH¢20 billion this year which we introduced in 1995, when Akufo-Addo came he didn’t come to repeal it despite leading demonstrations and making huge pledges… Mahama or Mills or any NDC person did not stand anywhere to make a firm promise that they will cancel the talk tax, although it is true that they criticized it. There is a difference between criticizing and making a promise to repeal it,” he said.
The Director of Communications of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, at a press conference on Wednesday said Mahama’s promise to scrap E-levy when he assumes office is a scam.
But Kwakye Ofosu said the NDC has a better record in keeping its promises than the NPP.
“A government that purported to hate taxes in opposition but imposed 24 taxes cannot be taken seriously,” he remarked on Eyewitness News.
While describing the E-levy as a “regressive tax,” he said the NDC will not delay in scrapping the E-levy after assuming office.
“In the very first budget statement of the new NDC government in 2025, we will introduce the process to repeal the E-levy act,” he said.
