Gov’t begged you to pay e-levy but gifted GHc43 million to a rich company- Sulemana Braimah

Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah has slammed the Government for granting a tax exemption of about GHC 43 million ( $ 3.9 million) to a company to import construction material for the building of a hotel at a time it was burdening Ghanaian with the electronic transfer levy (e-levy) with the explanation that Government needed money badly to save the economy.

Mr Braimah revealed that in 2022 the Government, through the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, requested Parliament to approve a tax exemption of $6.3 million to a wealthy private entity called 4-Mack Ltd to enable it to construct a 4-star hotel. He Government justified the request with the explanation that the hotel was part Government’s industrialisation policy dubbed the “one district one factory” policy.

He wondered how come a hotel could be classified as a factory and granted such a huge tax exemption, especially at a time Government needed to raise revenue.

“Last year, the Finance Minister and other government officials spent tax money moving from region to region to appeal to the poor people of Ghana to accept the imposition of E-Levy.This was at a time the poor people of our country were already struggling to survive economically. But they explained that the people needed to pay more taxes because the country needed more tax revenues.

But in the same year, and while our economy was crashing, the Finance Minister requested parliament to grant a tax waiver of $ 6.3 million to a wealthy private company called 4-Mack Ltd, which was going to build a luxurious 4-Star private hotel called Le Meridian Hotel. The justification for the tax exemption request by the Finance Minister was that the Building of the 4-star private Luxurious hotel formed part of the government’s One District One Factory Policy. Under this government, strange things are happening indeed! A Hotel as a Factory? But Guess what? Our Parliamentarians approved it,”he wrote on social media.

Mr Braimah wants the Members of Parliament, especially those on the Finance Committee, held responsible for approving the tax exemption request of the Government.

“Dear Ghanaian Journalists, the people of Ghana deserve explanations from Hon. Kwaku Kwarteng and Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson, Chairman and Ranking Member respectively on the Finance Committee of Parliament, why, on November 25, 2022, their Committee asked Parliament to approve a whopping $3.9million (about GHC43million) tax exemption to a company called 4-Mac Ltd for the building of a 4-Star luxurious HOTEL under the pretext that the HOTEL was part of the One District, One Factory Policy. How did they come to the conclusion that a HOTEL is a FACTORY?” He quizzed.