The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu has urged members of Parliament not to frustrate policies of the government.
He said even though democracy requires lawmakers to scrutinise policies and initiatives of the government, it should not lead to stalling of governance.
“We have been fortunate in our political journey to have moved on from a period of one political party dominating everything. Today, at least the two main political parties have all been in government. If we are honest, we will agree that there is no perfect government and there will never be as long as we have different points of view.”
“And if we are honest, we will also agree that there are no people in this world that love paying taxes, and yet there is no other way conceived by the human mind by which government can raise the resources to meet our needs other than by raising taxes. I do not know of any form of taxes that is less painful than others. So at last, government, by all means, would have to raise taxes to meet our needs and if we are good citizens, we will pay our taxes,” the Otumfuo made the comment at launch of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Commemorative Gold Coin in Kumasi on Sunday.
He said government must however have the humility to incorporate divergent views in its plans.
“We elect people to represent us to make sure there is some equilibrium in what governments do. It is to our good that our representatives in Parliament subject the national budget to the most rigorous scrutiny and to call for changes.”
“Government must also have the humility to acknowledge and embrace the useful inputs from all sources, but our representatives need to bear in mind that it is not their role to either determine policy or to frustrate the executive from performing their legitimate duties.”
The comment comes in the wake of the controversial E-levy being proposed in the 2022 budget.
The government wants 1.75% of all electronic cash transaction exceeding GHC100.
The opposition has risen vehemently against it. The impasse has stalled agreements over the 2022 budget with the Finance Minister saying he will further engage stakeholders, without noting the possibility of a reduction in the proposed levy.
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