Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has claimed opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislators approved the E-levy when they approved the 2022 budget.
He is wondering why some of them are still seen to be taking a stance against electronic tax.
At a capacity-building workshop organised for the Majority Caucus in Parliament and some Ministers of State on Saturday, January 22, 2022, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said “it is a difficulty for me when people are kicking against the e-levy when you know that in the adoption of the motion to approve the budget, we approved of that. So, it means that the first step has already been surmounted.”
“Then the E-levy has been factored into the various estimates that we have approved for all the sectors”, he explained.
“That is the second thing we did”, he said, adding: “The third step is: when we encapsulated everything into the Appropriation Bill and passed the Bill unanimously”.
“What does it mean? You have approved of the e-levy.”
“So, when we have done all these three and turn around and say that you [NDC MPs] are opposed to the Bill, then, perhaps, you didn’t know what you were doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, Freddie Blay, has advised the leadership of the Majority to avoid heated media exchanges with the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
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Mr Blay believes that it will be more productive for the Majority to do all it takes to get the cooperation of the colleagues on the Minority side in order to advance the agenda of the government.
“We all recognise that violence has never been the way out of any conflict situation, but rather dialogue and consensus-building,” he said.
He addressed the issue of violence in the House as happened over the course of 2021 before drumming home the need for more decorous relationships, especially with the Speaker.
“Parliament is Parliament! And not a forum for brawls but rather coax them (Minority) for debates. I would plead that we also tone down on the heated media banters between the majority caucus leadership and the Speaker of Parliament,” Mr Blay stated.
The former Ellembele MP was also speaking at the two-day Strategic Workshop organised by the Majority Caucus.