The Akufo-Addo government has nothing to show for the GHS220 billion it has borrowed since coming into office in 2017, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Sammy Gyamfi has said, and, thus, wondered what the same administration could do with the GHS7 billion expected to be realised per annum from the implementation of the 1.75 per cent e-levy proposed in the 2022 budget.
“The Akufo-Addo government alone has borrowed GHS220 billion since coming into office”, Mr Gyamfi told Awudu Iddrisu on Accra100.5FM’s morning show Ghana Yensom in an interview on Thursday, 9 December 2021.
“It is more than the cumulative debt incurred by the country since independence to the era of the Mahama administration because Ghana’s debt within that period was GHS120”, he pointed out.
He stressed: “In four-and-a-half years, the NPP, alone, has added GHS220 billion to the debt stock taking the total to GHS341 billion as of September 2021”.
“If you couldn’t use GHS221 billion to build any good roads, hospitals and secondary schools, what then can you use the GHS7 billion per annum that would be accrued from the implementation of the 1.75% e-levy, for?” he asked.
Mr Gyamfi argued that the Akufo-Addo government has had a lot of revenue at its disposal for the development of the country than his predecessor John Mahama but has not used it for anything beneficial.
“The IMF alone gave you GHS12 billion. John Mahama got GHS6 billion of oil money in four years. This government, alone, has accrued GHS20.6 billion”.
“John Mahama got GHS86 billion in taxes. This administration government got GHS167 billion”.
“They’ve got more than double the taxes John Mahama got”, he contrasted.
“What have they used the money for, for which they are now targeting 1.75% of our MoMo, bank transfer and remittance transactions?” he asked.
He noted that in 2020, alone, corruption swallowed GHS12.8 billion of Ghana’s revenue, according to the Auditor-General’s report, “and now you want us to pay e-levy, a Bawumia tax for GHS7 billion every year?”
“Even if you had reduced that by half, would there have been the need for an e-levy?”.
“So, the problem is not revenue; it is wasting the country’s resources on renting private jets for the president. If they cut down expenditure, corruption and waste, there wouldn’t be any need to impose more suffering on the already-suffering Ghanaians”, he noted.
Source: classfmonline.com
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Your cheap propaganda cannot change people like me. NDC is a cheap talkertive and propaganda party. You only criticise without giving policy alternatives. Don´t take Ghanaians to be that cheap. Our eyes and ears are wide open Shame on propaganda people like you
Such simplistic analysis from the NDC. In their 8 years in charge from 2009-2016 they increases the debt by approx GHS110 billion which using average FX rate for the period approx GHS3 to the US$ would mean borrowing of $35 billion. What is there to show for that borrowing? Now the NPP in 5 years have borrowed GHS220 billion and lets use the average exchange rate during the period NPP has been in power 2017-2020 of GHS5 to the US$ and amounts to approx $40 billion borrowed. But what is the legacy so far from this borrowing: 1. Universal secondary education (Free SHS) 2. Servicing of NDC use or pay energy contracts they have left behind 3. Effective tackling of global pandemic that has Ghana in much better shape health wise and economy wise 4. Increase I public sector employment by 20% 5. Increase in country's productive capacity with programs such as 1D1F and reflected in the annual economic growth rate figures 6. Restoration of the public health insurance scheme 7. Self funding of our elections for the first time in 4th Republic history These are to name a few. The NDC I am afraid cannot show a comparable list of universal benefits accruing from their borrowings. Sure they did some good things but their efforts and the results have tended to be limited and localized.
I am against wasteful spending and therefore Government must do well to create value for money. However, Sammy Gyamfi's assertion that Government borrowed GHS220bn and wasted it is very unfortunate. You don't spew lies like that just for political expediency. Don't forget that about 50% of government's spending goes to repayment of interest payment. So it suffices to say, the borrowings of the previous government also contributed to the further borrowings to settle interest payment as they fall due. He should put his comment in perspective. Another significant usage of government revenue is for the payment of government workers who are about 700,000. Government must be aggressive in cutting down wasteful expenditures. In addition, Government must start up large companies such as mining, oil and gas and telecom entities and have them listed on the stock market for private entities to own. This will create employment opportunities for the teeming youth. They should also re-consider reducing the levy rate to say 1%.
The NDC style of politics assumes that the electorate has a low level of intelligence. Then, I can't understand why an opposition party would solely propagate by insinuating false stories to make the government lose credibility as a means to sway the voters in its favor. A political party without a strong political message for the population to aspire to improve their livelihood is like a leader without vision. Imagining that the ruling party makes mistakes or misses deadlines is just as cynical as being unpatriotic. Indeed, giving a well-informed and intelligent electorate a political party of this kind would never see the light of a political power.
I don't think this guy - Sammy Gyamfi has ever worked before and let alone paying tax. Yet he is so loud and makes a lot of noise which is difficult to comprehend. Such people want to govern Ghana. Increasingly, many Ghanaians, thanks for free SHS are able to read and will not vote people because of propaganda as we found out in 2020 elections.
Propaganda man in propaganda party! This wouldn't win you elections. You couldn't even collate you election results in 2020, how do you rule a nation. No wonder Ghana was plunged into a total mess under NDC/Mahama.
I agree with the dealing with the waste and corruption in public expenditure. Very Much so. but at the same time we must not scrapped the E levy. The passion the government is using to introduce this E levy, the same must be applied in dealing with wasteful expenditures. We cannot keep pouring water in basket. If we don't rationalise our expenditure and deal with the wastage in the system no amount of revenue will produce the results we want. People in power must understand that leadership is about sacrifice. Our leaders must show the greatest example of sacrifice . They cannot be living in luxury and expect the poor to accept their policies.