Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has stated that under Ghanaian law, only Parliament has the constitutional authority to impose taxes or levies amid ongoing discussions surrounding the suspended charge on wallet-to-bank transfers.

Speaking on PM Express on Tuesday, Mr Dafeamekpor dismissed claims by the minority that the proposed 0.75 percent charge on direct wallet-to-bank transfers was comparable to the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), insisting that the two situations were fundamentally different.

According to him, any tax or levy imposed in Ghana must be backed by legislation passed by Parliament.

“Only Parliament has the mandate under the law to impose a tax or a levy — only Parliament,” he said.

Mr Dafeamekpor explained that the proposed charge did not originate from the government or through a legislative process but was instead announced by a private company.

“The announcement came from a private company. I think the company is called Mobile Money Company Limited. Whether it is owned by MTN or is a subsidiary of MTN, whatever it is, a private company announced that for its service, if you are transferring money from your bank into a mobile money wallet or whatever it is, it will levy a charge of 0.75 Ghana cedis,” he stated.

The proposed charge, which was expected to take effect from 1 June, attracted public criticism after MobileMoney Limited announced that customers would be charged a fee on transfers from mobile money wallets to bank accounts.

However, the Bank of Ghana later suspended the implementation of the charge, citing the need for further consultations with stakeholders.

Reacting to the comparisons being drawn with the now-scrapped E-Levy, Mr Dafeamekpor argued that the Electronic Transfer Levy followed the required legislative process before its implementation.

He recalled that the E-Levy was introduced through a government-sponsored bill and debated extensively in Parliament before being passed into law.

“E-Levy came to Parliament through a bill properly sponsored by the government, defended by members of the government at the time. We fought against it in Parliament, and it was passed by Parliament,” he said.

He questioned whether the same process had been followed in the current situation.

“Do we have the same scenario playing out now?” he asked.

Mr Dafeamekpor also backed the intervention by the Bank of Ghana, saying the central bank acted appropriately by stepping in to halt the proposed charge.

“Now the Bank of Ghana is stepping in and saying no, you cannot get up and just impose a levy on financial transactions. If you intend to do anything like that, you will come and consult,” he stated.

He maintained that should any such charge require statutory backing, it would ultimately have to go through Parliament.

“In any case, if this is to be done, it has to be brought to Parliament for Parliament to enact that law to mandate any entity at all,” he added.

“They (minority) are just trying to push that angle for the sake of propaganda,” he said.