Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah says government is ready to engage labour in the implementation of the controversial  2.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) increase.

He said unlike the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, which increased the rate in 2003 without any deliberation and consensus from labour groups, the NDC will engage with the groups until an amicable solution is reached.

The government is reeling under heavy criticism after it increased the VAT rate without Parliamentary consensus.

The minority on Friday walked out of Parliament just before the Bill was passed into law, accusing the government of insensitivity and the majority of breaching parliamentary proceedings by not informing the minority on the proposed increase.

On Monday, they held a press conference, calling on labour to kick against the new VAT law.

Omane Boamah has expressed surprise at the reactions of the minority.

He told Kojo Asare Baffuor Acheampong on Asempa FM's  Ekosii-Sen Programme that the minority must be bold enough to tell Ghanaians exactly what their concerns are in relation to the new VAT Law.

He said at one point the Minority complain about procedures used in passing the law and at another point they complain of the tax rate increase.

The Minister said the NPP has a history towards the VAT Law. He recounted how the party resisted the Law in 1995 and forced the then Rawlings-led NDC to postpone its passage to 1998. He said even in 1998 the party opposed VAT.

According to the Minister, when the NPP won power in 2001, it quickly increased the VAT rate in 2003 and did so without consensus.

He quoted the then Secretary General of the TUC, who chided government for unilaterally taking the decision to increase VAT and wondered how the same people will now be asking TUC  to kick against the VAT increase.

He said with the 2016 election in mind, government will not be insensitive to Ghanaians but was quick to add that they had to mobilize revenue for purposes of development.

In a rebuttal, the former Communications Director of the NPP, Nana Akomea, said when the NPP increased VAT by 2.5 percent in 2003 it was for a specific purpose- the implementation of the NHIS.

He therefore wondered what the government was going to use this new increment for.

He accused government of putting little money in the pocket of workers and taking it back in double portions through taxes.