The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says a townhall meeting held in his constituency gave damning outcome on the government’s Electronic Transfer Levy Bill.
“I did a poll in my constituency and it was a live poll, a townhall and I asked the citizens to vote because ahead of the return to recess, I said look as a Member of Parliament, I should have a clear mind for my people. I’ve been in Accra thinking I don’t support [the e-levy] but what if my people support it.”
He said the outcome only proves that the policy is the most outrageous and unpopular ever in his lifetime.
“I invited the chiefs, all the political parties, everybody. It was an open townhall, the public information centers, community radio stations, everybody announced that in a week’s time, the MP is holding a townhall on e-levy [and that] everybody come and share your view,” he narrated on The Keypoints simulcast on TV3 and 3FM on Saturday, February 5.
“And we took a vote. Guess the outcome! Three hundred and thirty-one said they are opposed to the e-levy [and] only four said they support it. This is so unpopular.”
Already, government is embarking on regional townhall meetings on the controversial policy, having been to the Eastern Region and the Western Region so far.
It is expected that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will withdraw the Bill and reintroduce it after garnering the inputs from his townhall engagements.
But the North Tongu MP, who is a member of the Minority in Parliament, insists that the outcomes of the various polls on the policy should be a telltale clue to government that the policy is unacceptable to the vast majority of the citizenry.
“I haven’t seen any poll that is below 80 percent. The level of resistance, the reaction for this tax, the outrage that Ghanaians have shown, I haven’t seen any policy in my lifetime that is so unpopular.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana
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