Ranking Member on Parliament’s Select Committee on Works and Housing, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, has slammed the Majority for accusing the Minority of sabotaging Ghana’s economic growth through its persistent opposition to some tax waivers currently under consideration by the House.
Mr. Asamoah says the “NPP is behaving as if the world is coming to an end in December. I think, apart from NPP, they [think they] are the only intelligent people in Ghana. And they can do whatever they want. Let’s wait,” the visibly emotional lawmaker told Alfred Ocansey on Ghana Tonight Thursday, May 30, 2024.
Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, had indicated at a press conference in Parliament Thursday, May 30, that the stalemate in approving the tax exemptions were the handiwork of the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
He said the move by the Minority was to stifle development since the development was affecting many business operations.
“The Minority Leader, Dr Ato Forson is leading that charge on behalf of the Minority in Parliament, and their main aim is to obstruct government business and to deny the people of Ghana the needed economic growth, which will result from businesses investing in the country and expanding their businesses,“ he said.
In 2021, the Ministry of Finance began processes to secure approximately US$335,072,712.13 in tax exemptions for some 42 companies under the One District One Factory initiative, but has not been successful.
The Minority, which is against the waivers, has remained resolute in its opposition to the waivers in Parliament with the justification that granting the US$335 million tax waivers to the 42 companies amounts to giving away free money despite the current economic challenges facing the country.
But according to Afenyo-Markin, the Minority’s stance is a double standard since the same NDC, while in government, granted tax waivers to several firms to the tune of millions of dollars.
Reacting to the issue, Mr. Oppong Asamoah noted that “I’m being a bit emotional. But if you see what is happening in Parliament with this particular party, with government, they need to be very careful. And that is why they are doing everything so that they will retain this government in power. Because if there is no change of government, a lot of things will come out. I’m so pissed when I talk about this government to you.”
When asked by host, Alfred Ocansey, to state what has been happening in Parliament and what the Minority has done over it, the MP said: “A lot [has been happening]. Minorities will always have their say. Majorities will always have their way. We’ll have our say. We’ll talk and talk. But let me tell you, they will use their number to block a lot of some of these things. At least there are some right-thinking members, a few of them among the majority.”
He mentioned the GARID project as one of the things the NPP government is pushing that is beyond the comprehension of the Minority.
