The only reason government wants to drop 15% VAT on electricity is the 2024 elections - Edudzi Tameklo

The government's decision to drop the 15% Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity consumption has been met with criticism by the Head of Legal Affairs of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo.

He said that the government is only dropping the tax because of the upcoming 2024 elections, and that it will reinstate it if it wins power again.

This comes after GhanaWeb, on Saturday, February 4, 2024, reported that the government has reached a decision to drop the 15% Value Added Tax on electricity.

The report added that the government also agreed to initiate a conversation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to come to a consensus on how it can make up for the revenue shortfall occasioned by the decision to drop the VAT on electricity policy through some extra cuts on spending.

Reacting to this in an interview on TV3, the NDC head of legal affairs noted that the government was being dishonest with Ghanaians, and that it had no intention of dropping the tax until it realised that it could affect its chances of winning the 2024 elections.

“Immediately labour said that they were going to protests, the government’s hymen decided to go on this trajectory to say that they are going to drop it.

“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 because of the elections ahead and that should you make the mistake of voting them in power, they will go back on this 15% ECG VAT,” he stated.

Godwin Edudzi referenced the government’s position for implementing the COVID-19 Levy.

He accused the government of being hypocritical and inconsistent, saying that it had imposed a COVID-19 Levy on Ghanaians to offset the cost of providing free water and electricity during the pandemic, but now it was claiming to drop the VAT on electricity for further engagement.

“This is a government who said in the middle of COVID-19 said that they were giving us free water, electricity. Immediately they got into 2020, they imposed COVID levy on us and now told us that at the Ghanaians were enjoying the free water and electricity, who were they thinking will pay up the bill and so, if the government today is imposing COVID-19 levy to offset the free water and electricity, this is what it is," he added.

NW/AE