Palgrave Boakye Danquah, the Government’s Spokesperson on Governance and Security, said the President’s signing of the e-levy bill into law was not rushed.
Assenting to the bill was proper, he explained, because no injunction had been imposed on it.
The Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) bill was signed into law by President Akufo-Addo on Thursday, March 31.
After the minority staged a walkout, the proposal was approved by a one-sided Parliament on Tuesday, March 29.
On Wednesday, March 30, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said that deductions will begin in May of this year.
The Controller and Accountant General (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who will be the revenue collectors, have assured him of this.
He told TV3’s Roland Walker in Parliament after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address, “We had some meetings with the Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and they have said right at the beginning of May they should be able to put their system together.”
The signing comes as the House Minority is suing the Attorney General in the Supreme Court over the bill’s passage.
Mr Boakye Danquah claimed on TV3’s New Day broadcast on Friday, April, that “[the signing] is not a haste.” The president must give his assent to a law after it has been approved by parliament.”
“People who hold opposing views on the interpretation of the legislation will move to the supreme court,” he continued. The Minority’s case has only recently been filed, and no injunction has been issued.”
He further stated that when the bill was approved on Tuesday, March 29, Parliament had the required number of MPs present in the House.
“We had the quorum; if we didn’t have the quorum, two-thirds, Speaker Alban Bagbin would not have approved it,” he claimed.
