A former Commissioner on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short has called on the government to heed the voice of the people in regards to the roundly rejected e-levy tax
According to him, the majority of Ghanaians have kicked against the levy and, therefore, it behooves on government to get with the opinion of the people it is governing.
He made the call in an interview on Accra-based Class FM Tuesday.
“I think the majority of Ghanaians from a survey that I read are against the e-levy and it is my view that government should listen to the views and opinions and voices of the majority of Ghanaians on this issue because I think the majority of Ghanaians think that they will be adversely affected by the passing of this e-levy legislation since a lot of electronic transactions are done by quite a sizeable number of Ghanaians,” Short said.
“So I’m hoping the government will listen to the views of the majority of Ghanaians. I don’t think the views and argument the government has put forward for the e-levy have been supported by the majority of Ghanaians.”
The survey Mr. Short speaks about was done by Global Info Analytics, a market trend gauging organization. It revealed that at least 73% of Ghanaians are opposed to the e-levy.
Even within the ruling NPP, 56% were opposed to the levy while in the opposition NDC, 86% were against it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Short has added his voice to the lament over the disgraceful fisticuffs that resulted in Parliament over the e-levy debate.