BY: Yesmeen Abubakar Tetteh
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has criticized the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, over Ghana’s high tax regime, asserting that he should take the blame rather than shifting it onto the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The Minority said it was shocking that the Vice President dared to attack the GRA for the higher taxes imposed on businesses and Ghanaians.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in an engagement with members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, March 20, said the business community is being harassed by the GRA for setting unrealistic revenue targets.
The Minority in a statement on Tuesday, March 26, noted that it is both hypocritical and deceptive for the Vice President “to blame innocent GRA workers for the fallouts of a high tax regime after his government has sponsored, motivated and marshalled the numbers of the Majority Caucus in Parliament to fight tooth and nail to pass regressive, punitive, draconian and insensitive taxes.”
The statement signed by the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, added that “it is absurd that Alhaji Bawumia, who approves economic policies including tax proposals at meetings of the Economic Management Team as well as justifies them at Cabinet meetings, has turned round to blame workers of GRA for the country’s high tax regime.”