Minority demands certainty on E-Levy bill in Parliament
The Minority has asked the Leader of Government Business in the House, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, to provide “clarity and certainty” on when the Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, 2021 (E-Levy) will be introduced in Parliament for debate.
The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who made the request, noted that last Friday there were efforts to introduce the bill to pave way for its second reading but it had not found space in yesterday’s Order Paper for it to be considered by the House.
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“I am raising this issue so that the Leader of the Government Business will provide clarity and certainty to the E-levy, which is an important matter of public interest, critical to the Ghanaian economy and the consolidation of fiscal policy,” he stated.
No surprises
Speaking ahead of proceedings on the floor of Parliament yesterday, Mr Iddrisu said when the House adopted the business statement, the House was told that the E-Levy bill would have been introduced today (Wednesday).
“Now we get it introduced on Friday and then today as I watched the order of business in pursuant to Standing Order 53, I do not see anything relating to the E-Levy.
“Mr Speaker, on this important matter there can be no surprises; so we want the Leader of Government Business to lead us through when it will be introduced,” he said.
New or existing bill
The Minority Leader also sought to know if a new bill would be introduced for the House to know about it or the House would continue to consider the existing E-Levy bill under a certificate of urgency in line with Article 106.
“We do not want to be taken by surprises; so let the Leader of Government Business indicate to us when the bill will come to Parliament and in what form we should anticipate it. We cannot continue with having this uncertainty,” he added.
Responding, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told the House that when he presented the business statement last Friday for this week, there was no indication that the E-Levy bill would be taken this week.
Subsequent to that, he said, there was some engagement between the leadership of the caucuses during which it was determined that the bill would be introduced in the House last Friday.
“Mr Speaker, when I came to present the business statement for this week last Friday, I said if we were able to conclude the discussions on the way forward for the E-Levy, it would be introduced in the House on Friday but if we could not finish due to lack of progress then it would come this week,” he said.
He asserted that while the Minority Leader had emphatically indicated that the Minority had taken a position to stand with the public to reject the E-Levy, “we (the Majority) want to stand with the Republic to ensure the revitalisation of the economy”.
Order paper
Per the business statement read last week for this week, there should have been second reading of three major bills, namely the Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, 2021, the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2021 and the Student Loan Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
However, while the Order Paper contained a motion on the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2021 and the Student Loan Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that of the Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, 2021 was missing.
