Economic Fighters League rejects road toll hikes, compulsory towing levy

Pressure group Economic Fighters League has rejected proposed increases in road tolls and what it says are surreptitious attempts to reintroduce a compulsory towing levy for all motorists.

According to the group, the compulsory towing levy which the people of Ghana strongly repulsed and forced government to abort in 2017 is being smuggled in behind veils with new euphemistic excuses.

Rather than impose further taxes on the citizenry which the Economic Fighters League says yield no dividends, and the management of which is without “transparency, accountability and value for money”, it will support any serious moves to recover stolen money from persons indicted by the annual reports of the Auditor-General.

A statement issued by the Economic Fighters League said new taxes announced in the 2021 Budget of the government take effect from May 1, 2021, and are set to affect the people adversely.

“The people of Ghana are already saddled with heightening cost of construction materials, food, electricity bills, water bills, and cost of domestic house rents among many other basics. As always, it is the people who have and continued to suffer most.

“Ghanaians are tired of taxation without transparency and value for money. It is unintelligible and reductive for the government to seek to suggest that the introduction of more taxes or increasing the rates of existing taxes is the solution to road accidents, when the state is currently spending national funds on some of the most expensive roads in Africa yet delivering some of the most poorly built roads. An increase in expenditure cannot be considered proportional to safety when national resources are constantly diverted to private hands”, it said.

“We at Fighters and other well-meaning Ghanaians are skeptical of the commitment of current and/past administrations to curb road accidents and to improve road infrastructure. Our reasons are easily found in their track records of the vicious stealing from public purse as captured in the wrongfully removed Auditor-General's reports.

“We will support any serious move to recover stolen money as surcharged by the Auditor-General's annual reports as an effort to identify the funds required to execute the stated tasks,” said the Economic Fighters League in the statement signed by Hardi Yakubu, Fighter-General.