The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has described as mere propaganda, the claim by three Minority lawmakers that the passage of the E-Levy was illegally done.
Speaking with the press after court proceedings on Wednesday, Godfred Yeboah Dame, stated that such propaganda claims should not be taken seriously but rather ignored.
He noted that, the Minority’s argument in court was embarrassing as Godwin Edudzi-Tamakloe, their lawyer, failed to demonstrate any form of irregularity during the passage of the levy.
“You saw what happened in court today. It was an embarrassing spectacle. The lawyer clearly was not able to demonstrate any form of irregularities with proceedings in Parliament. The court asked him, so is there any record that indicates that X number of MPs walked out at a certain stage?
“He obviously said no, there was no evidence indicating whether there was a headcount of a number of MPs present in Parliament who voted to support the bill. There was also nothing indicated by the lawyer which suggests there was a walkout of X number of MPs, so I think we should ignore all that propaganda,” Godfred Yeboah Dame said.
The AG, in his defence, stated that 266 MPs participated in the processes leading to the approval of the E-Levy.
He said, the approval of the bill and its subsequent passage into law, is constitutional.
He argued further that on March 29, when the policy was approved, there were only 274 validly elected Parliamentarians and not 275 because the election of the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, had been cancelled.
The Supreme Court by a unanimous 7-0 decision on Wednesday, May 4, dismissed the application for an injunction against the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy, E-Levy.
The court also directed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to preserve the records generated since the levy’s implementation started on May 1, 2022.
Haruna Iddrisu in response said he is satisfied with the Court’s directive to the GRA until the substantive case is determined.
The Tamale South MP described this part of the Supreme Court’s ruling as “refreshing and heartwarming.”
“At least some people will not be in a rush to collateralise it until the substantive matter is determined. We raised this matter because it is of public interest, constitutional significance,” the Minority Leader stressed.
Source: ghanaweb
