Majority Leader Reportedly Bribe Bootlicking Editors Killer E-levy

Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, reportedly hosted a secret meeting with a group of editors and senior journalists at his Ridge home on Sunday, 17th January 2022 using the meeting to instigate desperate propaganda to push public narration in support of the widely condemned e-levy.

According to insiders, the editors had been cherry-picked by the Majority Leader with a personalized invitation to his house on No.1 Haile Selassie Street Ridge near Kofi Annan ICT Centre.

The insider report revealed that some of the so-called senior journalists had been sweetened with GHC 5,000 each after the meeting while the editors and those close to the NPP party had been given amounts that were not disclosed.

WhatsUp News has seen the alleged invitation which read; “you are warmly invited to a private evening with the Leadership of the Majority Caucus in Parliament at the Majority Leader’s residence on Monday 17th January @ 4 pm.”

Among the reported invitees are to the meeting were are known praise-singing journalists, including Peace FM’s Kwame Sefa Kayi and Kwame Nkrumah Tikesie; Multimedia’s Dzifa Bampo, Kojo Yankson, and Emefa Appau.

Reportedly, there was also Fortune Alimi, Editor of Daily Guide; Kwamena Dadzi, Editor of Ghanaweb; Aisha Yakubu, and some editors of Modern Ghana online and Citi FM’s Richard Dela Sky.

The NPP Majority side, represented by Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and his Deputy, Afenyo Markins, were said to have expressed unhappiness about the lack of support that they were having from the media and asked the editors what the NPP could do to appease them to push public discourse favorably towards the widely rejected e-levy.

Kyei Mensah Bonsu is also said to have revealed that he had met with Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak and discussed the 1.75% e-levy for a “gentleman’s agreement” to support the contentious tax in Parliament, however, the two Minority representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had turned betrayed that secret pact by showing intense opposition to the e-levy.

The debt-ridden Akufo Addo administration which had piled on countless taxes on Ghanaians had last year inserted in the 2022 national budget some 1.75% tax on every electronic transaction in Ghana, sparking widespread outrage.

According to the government and its appointees, the e-levy which is expected to accrue some GHC 7 billion yearly, is the only way the Akufo Addo administration can raise local revenue to undertake much-needed social infrastructure.

But critics who had opposed to the new tax burden had argued that GHC 7 billion a year from the e-levy can never be the panacea for Ghana’s economic recovery as is being presented by the government, noting that in less than five years, the government had amassed over GHC 250 billion in public debt.

This huge amount, which is the highest debt accumulated by any government in the history of Ghana could have been used for the necessary social investment by the Akufo Addo government. However, the government which is known to be one of the most corrupt in the history of Ghana had practically wasted this accumulated debt.

Meanwhile, critics point out the fact that Ghana reportedly loses over US$ 3 (over GHC 18 billion annually) to corruption every year, and that if the government is really desperate for legitimate revenue sources, it should plug the corruption hole and it can save over three times the amount it is expecting from the e-levy.

Meanwhile, the strong opposition to the e-levy had resulted in violent bad blood in the Ghanaian Parliament with MPs engaging in an open brawl when the proposal was tabled before Parliament for passage in the 2022 budget.

The budget has remained unpassed due to this controversial e-levy.