E-levy Suit is an “Exercise in Futility”, the law is already being implemented – Majority Leader

The Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu, has stated that, the controversial Electronic Transaction Act passed by the House and assented to by the President is already being implemented and so any attempt by the Minority Caucus to stop it is an “exercise in futility”.

According to him the law suit at the Supreme Court by some members of the Minority caucus in an attempt to stop either the commencement or collection of the E-Levy is baseless, however, the burden of “proof is on them”.

“The Finance Minister indicated to us, that, the commencement of the collection is going to be on May 1st, 2022 and they (NDC) want to stop the implementation, but the Law is already being implemented, I don’t know what they mean by that,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated.

The Leader, who is also the MP for Suame constituency in the Ashanti Region at a news conference on Friday, April 22, 2020 in the Parliament to respond to parliamentary related issues submitted that, “the assent of the president to a Bill, if Parliament has not postponed the operations of the Bill, immediately after the assent it comes into operation. So if you fall foul to it, you can be prosecuted”.

He emphasized that the fact that, “so the law is being implemented, the necessary structures are being put in place now, it doesn’t mean that it is not being implemented”.

Currently, The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, Mahama Ayariga and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa are in the Supreme Court praying the Court for interlocutory injunction to be granted, stating that, per the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case between Justice Abdullai verses the Attorney-General in relation to formation of quorum in Parliament. They are claiming the Majority Group never had the requisite number to have passed the Electronic Transaction Bill into law, now an Act of Parliament.

The Minority has also filed an injunction application at the Supreme Court in Accra against the implementation of the controversial electronic transfer levy, popularly known as Momo Tax, pending a determination of its substantive case currently before the apex court.

The court has, however, scheduled the hearing of the case for May 4, 2022, three days after the commencement of the collection exercise.

But the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has discounted their claims, adding that, “if the Minister tells us that, the actual collection will start from 1st May, 2022, you think that it has not started, so you want to put impediment in the way of the Bill itself?”.

Mensah-Bonsu however, called on his colleagues to use the Parliamentary process, thus through the committees to litigate the matter, acknowledging the fact that, Minority in Parliament and the Parliament as a whole must be putting government on it toes through Committees.

By Edzorna Francis Mensah