GRi Press Review 04 - 03 - 2003
VAT may go up
Parliament to retrieve Nyimakan’s car
VAT may go up
Accra
After
inflicting a 95 per cent increase petroleum products prices on Ghanaians on
VAT goes up
In
doing this, the Kufuor government is behaving like the obedient pupil of the IMF
that it has learnt to become since the IFC fiasco. In a letter to President
Kufuor from the IMF Managing Director, Anne Kruger, dated
In
other words, President Kufuor has agreed with the IMF to increase the VAT rate!
And Yaw Osafo-Maafo’s 2003 budget has actually factored in a 5 per cent
increase in the VAT rate to raise it from the existing 12.5 per cent to 17.5 per
cent.
And,
it has done so without explicitly stating so in the budget, obviously because
the ghosts of Ahunu Honger and the three other persons who died in their
senseless anti-VAT demonstration of 1995 are still haunting them.
On
page 155 of the Budget Statement is a revenue item titled ‘Other Revenue
Measures’ for which a provision of ¢1.687 trillion has been made. It is under
this revenue head that the additional 5 per cent VAT increase, which would yield
¢1.23 trillion has been hidden.
Kufuor’s
NPP government has perpetrated this deceit because they know very well that
without the 5 per cent VAT increase, they cannot have an IMF programme. At the
same time, they know also that they risk social unrest if they increase the VAT
rate because of the anti-VAT Kume Preko demonstrations they organised in 1995,
which led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
It
will be recalled that it was the fixing of the VAT rate at 17.5 in 1995 that led
to the infamous and senseless Kume Preko demonstrations organised by today’s
rulers of Ghana in which four people died, leading to a withdrawal of the tax by
the NDC government.
Fuel prices go up
On
page 136 of the Budget Statement, it is stated that ‘a Debt Recovery Levy’
will be imposed on the use of petroleum products’. On page 164, it is further
stated that ‘to ensure the achievement of full cost recovery as well as to
help pay off the accumulated debt of TOR over time, a Debt Recovery Levy on
petroleum products, at the rate not exceeding ¢640 per litre (¢2,900 per
gallon) across board will soon be laid before Parliament.
The
introduction of this levy will yield about ¢450bn which revenue has also been
hidden under the ‘Other Revenue Measures’ revenue head. We ask ourselves, is
it that an additional 5 per cent increase in VAT together with an additional ¢23,000
per gallon of petrol will lead to a reduction in inflation rate down from 15.2
per cent at the end of 2002 to 9.0 per cent in 2003 as projected in the Budget.
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Parliament to retrieve Nyimakan’s car
Five
parties and two independent candidates are battling it out for the vacant seat.
Ironically, the CPP, a constituency chairman of which recently called for a snap general elections this year, has chosen not to
contest at Wulensi, citing unpreparedness.
NDC’s Wulensi campaign has not been smooth
sailing. Flagbearer John Evans Atta Mills was involved in an accident as his
vehicle ran into the back of another in the convoy to Wulensi
over the weekend. He escaped injury, while some suffered minor injuries.
Former
President Jerry Rawlings returned from
The
vehicle is said to have been licensed in the name of both the State and Parliament.
“But, with his exit from Parliament, the security on the vehicle no longer
exist,” the source told The Statesman. Parliament is, therefore, taking
steps to retrieve the vehicle with the hope of offering it to the eventual
winner of today’s by-election, that is if the person so wishes.
But
Nyimakan appears to have accepted his fate with
measured equanimity. In a conversation with the paper two Fridays ago in
Parliament House, he said he was awaiting Parliament’s next action on the
vehicle front.
The
former MP has been a frequent visitor to Parliament House since the Supreme
Court refused to countenance both his appeal and review applications. Perhaps,
unsurprisingly, he feels aggrieved by the court’s decision. He shows
particularly concern about the ¢14m cost awarded against him.
According
to Nyimakan, with the heavy costs the Supreme Court
may be sending the wrong signals to the potential litigants. He said the court
should not deter people from litigating through “exceptionally heavy fines.”
Nyimakan’s election in the 2000 elections had been challenged by a constituent of
the Wulensi constituency, Fuseini
Zakaria, citing falsification of his residential
status. Zakaria, said the former NDC MP was neither a native nor resident
of the constituency, leading to a two-year long judicial battle which ended in
today’s by-election.
The
parliamentary candidates are Karima Kofi Wumba, NPP; John Sadean Njigu, NDC; Daniel Okpan Niwubri, People’s National Convention (PNC); while Imusah Natogmah and Mumuni Dawuda are contesting for
EGLE Party and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), respectively. And
independent candidates are Peter Oggah Magan and Alhaji Musah Zibila. – The Statesman
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