Lawyer and editor of the Ghanaian Observer newspaper, Egbert Faibille says a ministerial committee set up to look into a recent controversy over ad valorem tax on packaged water is illegal. Parliament late last year passed into law an ad valorem tax on “packaged water” and was expected to take effect in January, however ahead of implementation date, producers of sachet water said they were not affected by the tax. Three state institutions; Parliament, the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planing as well as producers of sachet water are at variance over how the tax regime will operate. While officials of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance hold the view that sachet water does not fall under packaged water and must not be affected by the new tax regime, the Ministry of Finance and the VAT service hold a different view. A member of the select committee, James Afedzi, told Joy News sachet water was not part of the list of items on packaged water. This has necessitated the institution of a technical committee to advice the Ministry of Finance on how the tax policy will operate. But Egbert Faibille insists this cannot be done. Describing the entire controversy as an “absurd situation,” Mr Faibille said the technical committee has no powers under the country’s laws to review an act of parliament. “The power to interpret and enforce the laws of Ghana is an express and inherent power given to the court of Ghana and not to any technical committee set up by any ministry,” he argued. According to him there is an inherent ambiguity in the definition of what package water meant and the only institution tasked with the duty to interpret that ambiguity is the court. He said the Finance Ministry ought to be speaking to the Attorney-General for advice. He also advised producers of the sachet water to go to court for interpretation. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana