The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has proposed the formation of a committee for the monitoring of the proceeds that will accrue from the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) and their disbursement.
It said ahead of the commencement of the collection on May 4, 2022 that a special account should be created for the proceeds, an oversight committee would ensure probity, accountability and transparency towards the citizenry confidence in prudent management of proceeds.
The party suggested that the composition of the committee should have representatives from selected ministries, including the Ministries of Finance, Works and Housing, Education and Health.
Nana Yaa Jantuah, General Secretary of the CPP, advocated the committee must also have financial experts as well as representatives from political parties as members, creation of a special E-levy account to facilitate monitoring of the proceeds, look at the activities the levy is supposed to support and assist with the current structure in place and also kick against proposals that would not ensure probity, accountability and transparency.
“We can look at the activities that the levy is supposed to support and assist with the current structure in place and if the project is outside the activities earmarked for the levy, the committee must be able to kick against it so as to strictly adhere to probity, transparency and accountability for the taxpayer to repose confidence and trust in the committee and collection,” she reiterated.
Nana Jantuah cautioned against the proceeds ending up in the consolidated fund because there would be probity, accountability and transparency challenges, just as there had been with some other public funds, hence agitations by citizens against the payment of the E-Levy. He maintained that the proceeds of the levy into the consolidated fund was the right way to go.