NYA CEO lauds Parliament for passing E-Levy Bill

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Youth Authority, Pius Enam Hadzide, has lauded the Parliament of Ghana for passing the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill, with a call on President Akufo-Addo to sign it into law without any delay.

Mr Hadzide said this when he spoke to Asaase Radio from Dunkwa-On-Offin in the Central Region during an inspection tour of the Youth Resource Centres under construction by his outfit.

According to him, the NYA was quite elated at the news of the passage of the bill, and hoped that Parliament had listened to the cries of the youth of Ghana who would be the prime beneficiaries of the proceeds from the E-Levy.

“We are grateful to Parliament for the passage of the E-Levy bill, and we are hopeful Mr President will sign it into law immediately. As leader of the Ghanaian youth and Chief Executive Officer of the NYA, I am very pleased at the news of the passage of the E-Levy act,” he said.

Consultation/ excitement

He said the NYA consulted broadly on the 2022 budget presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, saying “it’s laudable passing the appropriation bill because of the mix of youth development interventions and programmes in the budget”.

He indicated that his outfit counted not less than twenty such interventions, including the YouStart initiative, which would develop and transform many young Ghanaians from job seekers to job creators and job givers.

The NYA CEO had bemoaned Parliament’s inability to pass the E-Levy, “which, indeed, is the enabler of the YouStart initiative”, and pleaded with them to reconsider in the interest of the almost twelve million young aged between 15 and 35 who are willing and capable of starting and growing their own businesses.

“This news means that they have heard our cries, and I am happy. It’s our hope that H.E. President Akufo-Addo, whose vision it is to transform the young Ghanaian into a successful entrepreneur and improve his or her station in life, will sign the act into law without delay,” he added.

Touching on the decision by some NDC legislators to proceed to court to restrain the President from accenting the bill, Mr Hadzide suggested that any legislator or anyone who seeks to frustrate the seamless operation of the E-Levy policy “should be viewed as unpatriotic and an enemy of the progress of the Ghanaian youth”.