A day after the government announced a 1.75% E-levy on electronic transactions, hundreds of displeased Ghanaians have taken to social media to remind the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia about some of his comments in the past regarding taxation in Ghana.

In a series of comments monitored by Myjoyonline.com, a section of Ghanaians have rejected the E-levy, stating that, it contradicts Bawumia's previous promises.

Some of the angry netizens, therefore, implied that the Vice-President employed deceit while campaigning for the NPP in the 2016 and 2020 elections respectively.

On November 17, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, during his presentation of the 2022 budget, disclosed that from January 2022, the government will levy all electronic transactions as part of efforts to widen the tax net to cover the informal sector.

According to him, an E-levy of 1.75% will be imposed on all electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances which shall be borne by the recipient.

Following this development, scores of Ghanaians have dug into their archives to retrieve some of Dr. Bawumia's previous remarks in relation to taxation and roads in the country.

In the videos and screenshots which have since gone viral, Dr. Bawumia decried the culture of borrowing and the imposition of taxes on citizens to mobilise revenue.

In one of such comments, Dr. Bawumia tweeted on 2nd December 2015 and said that: 'NDC has resorted to increasing taxes under the economic difficulties they created. An NPP Government will do differently'.

https://twitter.com/MBawumia/status/672027776069861376?s=20

In another video, Dr. Bawumia said 'We don't have to borrow money from anywhere. Just toll the various sections of the road and we'll raise the money to do the roads in Ghana'. This was captured on the 1st of February 2018.

The archives also have Dr. Bawumia promising that "the NPP will shift the goalpost of economic policy away from taxation to production. So we are going to move away from taxation to production. From taxation to production."

On the specific issue of mobile money transactions, Dr. Bawumia said in August, 2021 that he does not think mobile money should be taxed beyond the corporate taxes the telcos pay on their mobile money earnings. He disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM.

'I don't think Mobile Money should be taxed because most of the people who use the service are poor people so if you put more taxes on it, they will suffer', Dr. Bawumia stated.

Comparing these comments with the current 1.75% E-levy, angry Ghanaians have alleged 'deception' and 'swindling' by Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Meanwhile, concerning the E-levy, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said 'a portion of the proceeds from the E-levy will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure amongst others'.