Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, has disclosed that the E-levy bill has not been tabled as part of the business of Parliament this whole week, as the legislature returns from recess today, Tuesday, January 25, 2022.
The Banda legislator has blamed the government’s inability to consult extensively on the controversial bill during the recess for the E-levy's absence as part of parliamentary business this week.
“I’m very worried that for the whole recess, the government who was confronted with a lot of challenges for his inability to push through E-levy went to celebrate the Christmas instead of choosing to meet the stakeholders who mattered in executing this kind of business, and I’m very surprised.
“So it will interest you to know that government or nobody in the NPP MPs or nobody in the NPP Ministers, or nobody in the executive including even the President of the Republic and his Chief of Staff have met or engaged anybody in the Minority, not even the Minority Leader or the Party or the MPs within this recess,” Ahmed Ibrahim said.
He added: “So today I was not surprised that they went for a business committee meeting and government could not table the E-levy as part of the business to be executed in this week. So, the e-levy is not on the business statement for this week.”
He added that the Minority cannot be said to be obstructing government business over the inability of the bill to pass because it is clear that the government failed to heed Speaker, Alban Bagbin’s advice to consult extensively on the levy during the recess.
“Government says he’s now going to consult. So, government is now telling us today that he’s now going to consult the Minority, Civil Society Organisations, the political parties, and all those people who matter in the passage of the bill. But my question is why did the government choose not to do this in the recess?
“Because you are the very person who is complaining, we were on recess, and the Speaker said go and engage so that by the time we resume cool heads will prevail, you chose not to do that. Today we went for business committee meeting you’re saying you’re now going to do the consultation. So can you blame us in the Minority for obstructing government business? The answer is no,” Ahmed Ibrahim stressed.
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Meanwhile, a precursor to another tumultuous parliamentary session is the public banter between the leadership of the House.
The Speaker yesterday jabbed the leadership of the Majority for taking an unworthy hard stance on the bill.
Speaking at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association workshop today, Monday, January 24, 2022, the Speaker of Parliament said the decision by both the Minority and Majority to marshall their numbers instead of reaching a consensus on the contentious E-Levy was to blame for the tension in the House.
He said contrary to suggestions by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, he is not to blame for the failure of the electronic tax bill to pass.
“The only way is to get the two sides to consult and to dialogue with each other, to cooperate, to compromise, to collaborate to achieve consensus, this is an imperative imposed on us political leaders by the people of Ghana, we have no choice.
“So when the other side fails to gather their number and a decision doesn’t favour them, the Speaker cannot be the cause…I am not a Member of Parliament in Ghana," the Speaker said, promising to apply the rules of Parliament to the letter.
The Majority Leader has consistently blamed to Speaker for the acrimony between the two sides of Parliament over the bill.
There have also been separate secret meetings between both Minority and Majority ahead of the start of the Second Session of the Eight Parliament today.