A United States based Economist, Dr. Sa-ad Iddrisu, is cautioning government against its attempt to forcefully impose the E-levy on Ghanaians. He alludes that forcefully Passing E-levy is a recipe for chaos. Dr. Iddrisu is of the view that, failure of governments across Africa to listen to the concerns of the people, is one of the many factors that triggers coups on the continent.
He said since 2020 to date, four coups have taken place in Africa, with the recent one being Burkina Faso. Dr. Iddrisu made this assertion during a phone interview on Radio Tamale political talk show program dabbed “Be citizens and not spectators”, hosted by Robicon Mornahson. He was responding to questions from the host concerning the current coups on the African continent.
Dr Iddrisu said that government current handling of the university lecturers strike, the Nabco beneficiaries, and the E-levy impasse, are all factors that invite unnecessary tensions in the country. This he believes are conditions that sets the tone for citizens revolts and military take-overs.
“…looking at what is happening in parliament as at now with this E-levy thing, it’s clear that the citizens doesn’t want it but the government wants to go ahead with their numbers in parliament including the independent candidate, to pass the E-levy. Some of these factors are things that the government needs to look at. You are voted into government to deliver what the people want and not to have your way all the time, because having your way all the time begins to create a whole lot of tension or unnecessary tensions that can trigger coup in the country”, he said.
Dr. Iddrisu believes the current hardships in the country will further worsen for the citizens of the E-levy is passed by the government. He tasked the government to look for alternative revenue generation mechanisms, so as not to over burden the poor citizens.
He also bemoaned the conditions of service of university lecturers in the country and called on the government to address the striking lecturers concerns amicably.
