Adnan Adams Mohammed
Ghanaians have registered their lack of trust in the government and fears the 1.5 per cent currently being charged on Electronic transactions (E-levy) will be used to fund development projects across the country an Afrobarometer Report has revealed.
The survey report released by CDD-Ghana shows, out of the total sample size, only 9 percent of Ghanaians are confident that the government will use revenue from the E-levy to fund development. This means, about 91% Ghanaians have no confident in the government when it comes to judicious utilisation of tax monies.
Amidst the high lack of no confident and on the issue of transparency, key stakeholders in the telecommunication space have advocated the rollout of measures and strategies that will inform people of how their taxes are being used.
“I think it is fair to ask that if we’ve decided that we are taking this tax for a particular purpose, we are able to go back and see if it is being used for that particular purpose. For me, as a corporate governance student, I think that transparency and providing information, by the people who are in positions of responsibility is important”, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, noted in a radio discussion last week.
“And I don’t think we do enough of that. It is something we need to do constantly if we want to take out all the clouds and perceptions of suspicion. If we could even have a website that customers can go to find out with regards to how much is coming in and what the funds are being used for, it will be helpful,” he added.
According to the Afrobarometer report, 51% of Ghanaians do not think government will invest the proceeds generated from the E-levy into development projects. The report indicates that 24% of Ghanaians are not very confident that the revenue generated from the E-levy will be used for its intended purpose, while 15 per cent are somewhat confident that government will indeed use the accrued revenue for its purpose.
Also, 47% of Ghanaians despite the charges on electronic transactions say they will continue to use electronic financial transactions.
However, the report further indicated that, 49% of Ghanaians have disclosed that the E-levy will make them avoid or stop using electronic financial transactions.
