The Economic Fighters League (EFL) has described the 2022 budget statement presented to Parliament by government as regressive and criminally insensitive” to the plight of Ghanaians.
The group thus called for total rejection of the budget.
At a press conference in Accra to register their displeasure at the “attempt by the government to suffocate the people of Ghana by increasing the hardship that we are all already facing”, the group said the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta presented several objectionable policy intentions and measures which cannot be allowed to go without a response from the EFL.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta on Wednesday November 17, 2022 presented to Ghanaians, through Parliament the 2022 budget statement of the government where he outlined government expected revenue and expenditure.
But at the presser on Monday November 22, 2021, Fighter Nii Ayi Opare, National Spokesperson of the pressure group told the media that, “Perhaps the most obnoxious policies in the 2022 budget is the increment in tax fees and charges and the introduction of new taxes”.
“Introduction of these new taxes and the increment in existing fees and charges clearly demonstrates the lack of sensitivity of the establishment to the plight of the Ghanaian people in their struggle for decent living standards and livelihoods. For instance, take the electronic tax, which is another economic shackle that has been slapped on mobile money transactions, bank transfers and all electronic money transactions” he explained.
Mr. Opare lamented that both the new taxes and the old ones that had seen increment are coming on the back of consistent increases in fuel prices which have affected the prices of everything on the market.
“Fuel prices have risen at least 16 times in 2021 and the year has not ended yet. As a result, food prices have skyrocketed”.
“The regular ball of kenkey has shrunk in size and its price of GHC1 increased by between 100% and 200%. In some cases, a ball of kenkey that used to be GHC1 is now being sold for GHC 3. So “kenkey with pepper and fish” has become “kenkey and pepper sooorn”.
“ Prices of staple foods such as Maize, beans, cassava, yam, tomatoes, onions etc are fast becoming unaffordable for the majority of Ghanaians” he added.
The Economic Fighters League believed the “system is increasingly becoming too hot for the Ghanaian and this is not the time to be increasing taxes and introducing new taxes”.
“A responsible state at this time will be introducing measures to reduce the hardship on Ghanaians” Fighter Nii Ayi Opare stressed.
“This cannot be the nation Ghana that once was the gateway to Africa, the beacon of hope that lit the path to liberation, a shining example for the entire continent” he bemoaned.
