E-levy: Yentua Demo Hits Akufo-Addo Government over Proposed Policy

E-levy: Yentua Demo Hits Akufo-Addo Government over Proposed Policy

  • A youth group called Coalition of Concerned Ghanaians (CCG), has demonstrated against the E-levy proposal by the government
  • The demonstration took place on Thursday, February 10, 2022, in Accra with many people joining
  • The demonstration is themed: "Yentua", literally meaning "we won't pay" (the E-levy) as the group as called Akufo-Addo wicked over the proposal

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The group called Coalition of Concerned Ghanaians (CCG) has organised a protest against the Akufo-Addo-led government regarding the controversial E-levy proposal that has rocked Ghana in recent times.

The demonstration is currently ongoing in Accra as at the time of this report was filed at 10:30 in the morning.

The group converged Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, and over 5,000 people are expected to join in the demonstration.

Yentua Demo Hits Akufo-Addo Government over E-levy Proposed Policy
Some of the protesters at the Yentua Demo. Photo credit: @Philip Abutiate, @Henry Oko Oninku/Whatsapp
Source: Facebook

The CCG has kicked against the E-levy proposal by government and described it as “insensitive”, “unfair” and “wicked”.

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The group also believes the government simply wants to milk Ghanaians with the policy and this is something they want to avoid, thus the Yentua literally meaning “We won’t pay” Demonstration.

Watch and listen to the complaints made by one of the protesters at the demonstration:

What is E-Levy?

The E-Levy (full name electronic tax) is a tax President Nana Akufo-Addo's government sought to introduce for the 2022 fiscal year. It was first unveiled by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.

In the 2022 budget statement he read to Parliament in December 2021, the E-Levy was to place a 1.75% on all individual electronic transactions exceeding GHC100. The scope included transactions through banks and mobile money platforms.

The announcement was met with loud agitations from the general populace and the passage of the E-Levy has almost brought Parliament into chaos.

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Parliamentarians trade blows over E-levy

On Monday night, December 20, 2021, parliamentarians turned the floor of parliament into a boxing ring as they fought each other during voting to consider the new e-levy proposed by the government.

In that report by YEN.com.gh, the misunderstanding ensued when the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, who was presiding over proceedings, decided to vacate his seat momentarily to enable him to join in the headcount voting in the capacity as the MP for Bekwai.

Joe Wise had wanted to yield his seat to the second deputy speaker, Andrew Asiamah, who happens to be an independent MP for Fomena, in order to be counted and thereafter return to resume his seat.

His plan did not make sense to the minority and they vehemently protested the procedure.

The minority members, however, attempted to seize his chair when he wanted to carry through with his decision.

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That action by the minority drew some members of the Majority to engage their colleagues, leading to some members actually throwing blows.

Ahead of the confusion though, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who had presided over proceedings since morning, failed to return to his seat after rising in the afternoon for Joe Osei Owusu to preside.

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Authors:
Naa Ayeley Aryee avatar

Naa Ayeley Aryee Naa Ayeley is a creative writer with over ten years of experience in journalism and media. She started writing for YEN in 2017 as an editor on the entertainment desk and later became a monitoring editor.