Govt dropped electricity tax because of December elections – Edudzi Tamakloe

The Director for Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, has stated that the decision of the government to rescind the 15% VAT on electricity consumption is due to the upcoming general elections.

According to him, this decision of the government is similar to the COVID-19 era, where Ghanaians were given free electricity and water, whereas frontline nurses and doctors were given extra salaries to save lives, yet when they were voted into power, they imposed a COVID levy.

Speaking on the ‘Big Issue’ on TV3, lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe urged Ghanaians not to fall prey to that by voting for them in the upcoming elections.

“Organised labour, I want to put before you today that this government is so dishonest that the only reason why they want to drop this 15% ECG VAT is simply because of the election ahead, and that should you make a mistake of voting them in power, they will go back for this 15% ECG VAT.”

“This is a government that said they were giving us free water and free electricity. Immediately after they got elected in 2020, they imposed a COVID levy on us. And so Ghanaians must have at the back of their minds that the only reason why this government today is having to withdraw this VAT is simply because of the 2024 elections.”

He furthered that dropping the 15% VAT on ECG is not a favour made to Ghanaians by the government but rather for their interest, and that the problem the government is facing is not lack of revenue but pervasive corruption, waste, and recklessness.

Disputing the statement made by Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe, the Government Spokesperson on Governance and Security, Palgrave Boakye Danquah, emphasised that the government’s stance to rescind its decision on the 15% ECG VAT was out of the care of Ghanaians.

Mr. Palgrave Boakye Danquah disclosed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo held a meeting with his cabinet last Friday to withdraw the 15% ECG VAT due to pressures and concerns from organised labour.

“So the overarching goal is to ensure that we find other means to be able to raise revenue and to be able to meet our revenue measures in the country. And so we would ask organised labour, which is a very formidable group in this country, to exercise restraint,” he added.

He hinted that the demonstration of organised labour would no longer hold as the government has made a new decision to withdraw the 15% ECG VAT to ensure a peaceful and safe country for Ghanaians.

“We have engaged organised labour consistently on other revenue measures that need to be put in place, and I am very certain that as a very caring government managing the atmospheres of the economy and seeing to it that the temperatures and pressures are calm, the President, in his wisdom, has asked that this 15% levy on electricity be withdrawn,” Mr. Palgrave Boakye Danquah highlighted.

Organised labour threatened to stage a demonstration on February 13, 2024, to protest against the 15% VAT on electricity consumption after the one-week ultimatum given to the government to rescind its decision elapsed because they deemed the imposition of the new tax unfair.

However, there has been a turn-around in events as the government has reportedly cancelled the tax.