Pentecost Council Secretary Tells Gov’t To Plug Wastage Instead of E-Levy

General Secretary of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Reverend Emmanuel Teimah Barrigah has advised the government to channel its energies into plugging leakages in the public purse rather than punish Ghanaians with the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).

In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, he pointed out that pushing the E-levy in the wake of the report by the Auditor General that a whopping Ghc12billion was lost to corruption and misuse of public funds is rather awkward.

“If we lose GH¢12 billion through the misapplication, misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds and we are looking for GH¢6 billion from E-levy, why don’t we just take steps to prevent such wastages?”

He added, “If this is not done, even monies collected through E-levy will be wasted. Without collecting the E-levy in the first place, when all loopholes are plugged, we can save a considerable amount of money to carry out the developmental projects government will like to embark on.”

The GPCC General Secretary’s advice, adds to serious opposition that Ghanaians have mounted against the obnoxious levy which aims to tax the savings of Ghanaians at a rate of 1.75% e-levy, now pegged at 1.5%.

The levy was introduced in the 2022 Budget however the Minority has been up in arms against it with the backing of the majority of Ghanaians.

In response, the government has attempted to force it through parliament but failed, resulting in a new docile and compromise in which it has agreed to reduce the rate from 1.75% to 1.5%.

If passed, the levy will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 daily.

The government says it expects to generate an extra GH¢6.9 billion with the levy to execute developmental projects in 2022.

According to the budget, 16.7 percent of the yield from the levy, will be used to support road infrastructure development.