Ghana is broke; we need to file for bankruptcy – O. B. Amoah

Ghana is broke; we need to file for bankruptcy – O. B. Amoah

O.B Amoah

The Member of Parliament for Akwapim South of the Eastern Region, Osei Bonsu Amoah says government should declare bankruptcy if it cannot finance ongoing projects in the country.

The former Minister for Youth and Sports in the Kufuor era wondered why the government cannot fund projects earmarked for the year but had to introduce new taxes in addition to floating bonds, to raise funding for such projects.

Parliament is currently debating a revised law on Communications Service Tax which when passed, will see the service providers charged 6 pence per minute on international calls streaming into the country as well as emails.

Government is also seeking to tax some equipment used for fishing as part of efforts to spread the tax net.

Further to that, government has proposed a mid-year flotation of a billion dollar sovereign bonds.

But speaking on Badwam on Adom TV Thursday, Mr. O.B Amoah said taxing fishing equipment will have a negative toll on fishermen since the industry is already recording a fall in output.

He said: “The only good news in Ghana currently is the three goals scored by the Satellites [U-20 national football team against two scored by Portugal] at the ongoing Under-20 world cup tournament [in Turkey], which has seen us through to the quarter finals to be played on Sunday.

I do not know what the telecos have done to government; a lot of taxes are going to be collected from them if approved by parliament”.

The MP criticized government for failing to plug the leakages in the system to shore up revenue mobilization but rather considers the introduction of new taxes as the panacea to shortfall in revenue.

According to him, “the leakages in the system far outweigh the $1 billion Euro bond being sought for by government”.

He demanded of government, the true state of the economy, before coming up with measures to salvage it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kofi Adams, Deputy General Secretary for governing National Democratic Congress, has described as hypocritical, the position adopted by the minority group in Parliament with regard to the debate over the the new taxes.

Kofi Adams said it was important for the government to raise revenue to develop the nation, adding, “There is a risk to every decision taken by government but the underlying factor is to find out if the decision will help better the life of its citizens”.