The Arise Ghana group has called on the Ministry of Finance to take immediate steps to scrap the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) to alleviate the unbearable hardships being experienced by Ghanaians.
The new group made up of members of several opposition political parties in the country and citizens unhappy about the current economic situation in the country concluded a two-day demonstration in Accra today.
Having made a stop at the Ministry of Finance, the leading members of the group presented a petition to the two Deputy Ministers for Finance; Abena Osei Asare and Hon. John Kumah.
While presenting the petition, Bernard Mornah who is a leading member of Arise Ghana argued for the scrapping of the E-Levy, insisting that it is syphoning the capital of Ghanaians and confiscating the savings of the citizenry,
“We are here this afternoon on a simple mission that ‘Krom ay3 hye’ and that everything, the economic hardship that the country is going through has a result of the bad policies that are formulated by the Ministry of Finance and we are coming here despite that the petition is addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, we see it fit to give you a copy so that you understand the issues there-in and take appropriate steps to alleviate the suffering of the people of Ghana.
“We call on the Ministry of Finance to take steps to scrap the obnoxious E-Levy that is imposing more hardship on the people of Ghana, syphoning their capital and above all confiscating our savings,” Bernard Mornah said.
He added, “That the Ministry should take urgent steps to ensure that inflation is brought down to the barest minimum to allow the poor with little income to be able to afford basic commodities. You should do everything possible to arrest the deteriorating currency which is now among the worse in the world.”
After receiving the petition, Deputy Finance Minister Abena Osei Asare assured the protesters that the government is committed to addressing all their grievances.
She disclosed that the government is already engaging various stakeholders on ways to bring down the high cost of living in the country.
