Akufo-Addo accused of 'gross disrespect' after signing E-Levy into law despite pending Supreme Court suit

• An MP on the side of the Minority has accused the president of blatant disregard for the rule of law
• According to Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, President Nana Akufo-Addo should not have signed the E-Levy into law because of the suit at the Supreme Court
• He said the president should have waited for the court to make a decision on the suit challenging the legality of the bills passage

President Nana Akufo-Addo has been criticised for signing the controversial E-Levy bill into law despite the pending Supreme Court suit against its passage.

Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu did not mince words when he called the President's assent to the bill utterly lawless.

The Minority MP and Deputy Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament said it is disappointing that the President, a lawyer, would act in a manner that undermines his training.

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"It is also a stab of the claim of the president to be an ardent adherent to the rule of law and due process," Mr Sosu did not hide his discontent.

He told Citi News that he expected the president to wait for the Supreme Court's decision on the suit before approving the bill.

The Minority in Parliament has filed a suit at the Supreme Court seeking relief for nine faults they believe have been triggered by the passage of the E-Levy bill yesterday.

Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu; North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; and Bawku MP, Mahama Ayariga, have dragged the Attorney General to the apex court, citing breaches in the passage of the bill.

The three MPs represent all 137 opposition MPs at the apex court to argue that the constitutionally mandated number of MPs did not pass the controversial bill.

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E-Levy becomes law as Akufo-Addo quickly assents to the bill

But before the apex decides on the suit, President Akufo-Addo signed the controversial bill into law just two days after a one-sided Parliament of Majority MPs passed it.

With the bill now a law, the Finance Ministry and the Ghana Revenue Authority can begin implementing the collection of the 1.5% tax to be charged in some mobile money and electronic transactions.

The Minority believes the president should have waited on the Supreme Court's decision before touching the bill.

E-Levy: NDC MPs Go Wild In Parliament With Claims Some Of Their Members Were Marked Absent

National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs have gone wild in Parliament with allegations that some of their members were deliberately marked absent on the day the E-Levy was passed.

The Minority MPs are accusing Clerk of Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Nsiah, of colluding with the Majority side to omit some eight NDC MPs from the attendance register on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

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E-levy: Heated debate in Parliament over claims NDC MPs were ‘mischievously’ marked absent

According to the NDC MPs, although the said MPs were present for parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday, their names were not captured in the register.

Source: YEN.com.gh