
In spite of the vile propaganda from the naysayers, initial reports on the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Act point to an encouraging picture.
According to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), revenue trickling in, even under the politically mired environment, shows that some modest gains are being scored.
This provides hope that a better understanding and acceptance level from the larger citizenry can do some wonders in attempting to stay within our expenditure limits and still fund basic social programmes.
Considering the fact that we had wasted over a quarter of the year struggling to get the larger Ghanaian community on board, with our hung Parliament being our bitterest obstacle, the news that we may be making over GHC1 million a day is more than refreshing.
False alarm
It is surprising that the alarms had come from some MPs who should be leading Ghana’s digitalisation agenda. Unfortunately, they were the very ones pushing against using a system that we have all gotten used to in doing business.
Again, that propaganda had been vented by regular and social media chaps, who overlook the fact that it is wiser, even under the new circumstances, to ‘comply’ rather than keep one’s cash under his pillow or send them in bits and pieces to families back home or kids at school.
Perhaps, the worse was when the former President himself, who knows better than most Ghanaians that the E-Levy tax regime is the key we had all along been searching for to truly formalise our economy, ‘exploded’ that his party would ban the policy, should it win power again.
Drop in the bucket
As far as we can tell, the GRA’s figures may even be a drop in the bucket, when all of us awaken to that fact that we must, in the interest of Mother Ghana, live with it and hope that government uses the proceeds to better our lot.
Now that we know that there is a huge chunk of naysaying Ghanaians still outside the ‘compliance circle’, we may safely assume that the sky may be the limit when the lie and propaganda sold to us that it would not work become exposed.
But that is normal when nations like our, used to old ways of doing things, all of a sudden, are challenged with better and novel alternatives that are transformational.
Thank God that those Ghanaians, including our very educated MPs and lawyers, who swore to the highest heavens that they would fight the policy, may be having an opportunity in this success story to join the party.
Implementation challenges
Before the refreshing report, we had snippets of information regarding challenges with the implementation by some banking institutions, and understandable concerns from the media and financial analysts.
As we would all admit, some of these challenges are part of the pains of growing up, and we must therefore assure ourselves that such anomalies would be corrected as we move along and garner some experiences.
Hikes in transport fares, basic food commodities, among others, keep making life uncomfortable for the ordinary citizens. That alone should be no reason for fighting against well-meaning programmes that will help improve the lives and livelihoods of the ordinary Ghanaian.
Collective burden
It is the opinion of the Daily Statesman that however deep our concerns for ordinary citizens are, the solution may not be in ‘pampering them’. Indeed, it is to help make them act responsibly, in making the necessary sacrifices that will give us cleaner water, better sanitation, access to health and education and jobs for our kids, among other opportunities.
In addition, we cannot postpone our obligations to the vulnerable and the aged, nor must we ignore the threats to trade and food security, by allowing our roads and highways to deteriorate and slow down economic growth when we can, together, contribute our quota through the E-Levy to construct the architecture we need to transform our national economy to deliver hope.
Government has already proved in the last six years that it has the capacity to turn things around. All we need across board is this modest sacrifice that is already showing results.
That is why we plead with citizens to ignore the propaganda and support the ongoing implementation of the E-Levy.