The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG), Rt. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Divine Agbeko has advised President John Dramani Mahama to remove what he described as naughty taxes introduced by the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government.

He emphasized that this should be prime on the agenda list of the current government as these taxes have overburdened Ghanaians already facing economic hardships.

He noted this was one of the reasons Ghanaians clamoured for a change in government.

He was speaking at the induction service for Pr. Dr. Mrs. Salomey Praise Otami-Abutiate as Presbyter Executive of the General Assembly of the EPCG at the Elorm Parish in Ho.

“Take the naughty stealing taxes that can even tax money in your pocket after it has been taxed, they will tax it again. You want to send money, they will take it again. So, everywhere, they are just sucking from you. Take those naughty taxes away and do something better that will replace the tax”, he said.

He advocated reinstating the tollbooth system to help the country generate income to be invested in the improvement of the road networks.

“You can use the tollbooth tax to maintain roads. The tollbooth tax is not to be consumed by those who take the ticket and chop. If you like, give it to me. If you like give the road tax collection to me, and I will start building the roads. If you like try me”, he added.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Divine Agbeko rtd indicated that Ghana ran into economic and administrative difficulties under the Akufo-Addo government.

He said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Mahama’s victory was an answer to the prayers of Ghanaians to God to rescue the country from the difficulties.

He, therefore, counseled President Mahama to govern and make decisions in the interest of the country.

“Mahama will have a hard time, but with the help of God and learning from the past, the experience, he must not repeat those things for which he was labelled incompetent. He must not repeat them. He should not look into the faces of friends, families, and cronies and say you take here, you take here.

“That attitude will not help him. He must choose and do things in the interest of the good of Ghana. Not for an individual”, Rt Rev Dr Lt Col Agbeko rtd. stressed.

Although the NDC in opposition promised to remove nuisance taxes such as E-levy, betting tax and COVID-19, some economists have advised the government to hasten slowly since the country is broke and needs the taxes for development.

Read Also: Gradual reduction of E-Levy better than complete abolishment – Dr Kwame Asante

But the Special Aide to President John Mahama's 2024 campaign, Joyce Bawah Mogtari has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to abolishing the controversial electronic transfer levy (E-levy) and the COVID-19 levy, a promise made in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2024 manifesto.

Read Also: Mahama’s gov’t will surely abolish E-levy and COVID-19 levy – Joyce Bawah

The service saw the induction of Pr. Dr. Mrs. Salomey Praise Otami-Abutiate as Presbyter Executive of the General Assembly of the EPCG.

She is expected to bring to the office her enormous expertise in the fields of philosophy, languages, and education, among others.