Parliament in retrospect: E-Levy bill fails to feature in Parliament

Contrary to the high expectation that the controversial Electronic Transfer Bill, 2021 well known as E-Levy will take centre stage in Parliament this week, the business in the House saw less deliberations on the bill.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, is billed to come to the House to withdraw and reintroduce the bill.

When the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, presented the business statement last Friday for this week, he encouraged Members of Parliament (MPs) to “participate fully in the consideration of the bill for the passing of a good piece of legislation for the benefit of all”.

The consideration and passage of the E-Levy has currently brought discomfort in the camps of the Majority and Minority caucuses, as MPs from both sides have strongly been urged to participate in the approval or disapproval of the bill.

The discomfort also emanates from the fact that quite a number of MPs have openly complained of their inability to travel outside the country for medical appointment or carrry out government business, for fear that their absence in Parliament may deal a hefty blow to their party on the day the bill may be debated and approved.

For this week, the only time discussion on the bill came up strongly was last Thursday when the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, drew the attention of the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, that he and the Majority Chief Whip, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, received a petition from the demonstrators who marched through the streets of Accra to protest against the passage of the E-Levy bill.

However, Mr Osei-Owusu said since the petition was addressed to the Speaker, he would refer it to the Speaker's Office.

Q&A

The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum; the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson; the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, and the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, were in the House to answer questions.

A number of members of the House also presented various statements that bordered on national concerns.

On Tuesday, the Majority Chief Whip, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, drew the House’s attention to the killing of five women at the Nsawam Mobil Junction on Monday, a development that he said warranted Parliament advocating concrete measures for road safety measures such as the provision of traffic lights and embankment along vantages stretch to save lives.

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, also clarified his comments on the future plans for the use of the 38 abandoned tollbooths across the country.

He had explained that his suggestion to turn the tollbooths into washrooms was one of the many plans to stop indiscriminate urination by drivers and passengers.

On Thursday, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, told the House plans her ministry had to automate the premix fuel distribution system to stop diversion and hoarding of the product.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, also briefed the House on matters related to the implementation of the government’ flagship programme—One-District, One-Factory.

He disclosed to the House that SEFTECH India Pvt Limited, the company that signed a contract agreement with the government to develop the Komenda Sugar Factory Project, was claiming damages estimated at $3.9 million with interest against the government.

He said the contract for the development of a sugarcane nursery on a 50-hectare piece of land at Komenda was signed between the Government of Ghana (GoG) and Seftech India Pvt in 2016.

However, he said the company claims that the government had refused to pay for the development of the 50-hectare sugarcane nursery estimated at $2.75 million.

Loan agreements

On Tuesday, the House approved a total of €350 million commercial contract agreements to finance the construction of roads and bridges to bolster agriculture productivity in the Afram Plains area in the Eastern Region.

The facility would be used for the construction of the Bunso-Adawso road and specified approach roads to the Adawso bridge project, as well as the construction of a bridge over the Afram River at Adawso-Ekyi Amanfrom.

Outside Chamber

Outside the Chamber, there were a number issues that cropped up during the week.

They included the Minority filing a private member’s motion for Parliament to constitute a bi-partisan committee to investigate how the government spent the $560 million it received from the World Bank.

The Minority, in a reaction to an allegation against the MP for Assin North, Mr James Gyakye Quayson, that his bodyguard assaulted a bailiff of the Supreme Court, described the allegation as a “bizarre attempt orchestrated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to unseat Mr Quayson.