Special Aide to former President John Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has stated that the passage of the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-levy) will be pointless because the targeted revenue of GH¢6.9 billion cannot be used to service the country’s debt.

She says the misapplication and misappropriation of public funds under the current New Patriotic Party (NPP)-led administration are clear indicators that the proposed objectives for introducing the E-levy may not be achieved.

In an interview on Prime Morning on Thursday, she stressed that “when see the figures in terms of government’s own expenditure, the level of waste in our system, the wanton dissipation of state funds and the lack of transparency or accountability, you ask yourself what the GH¢6.9 billion going to be accrued from the E-levy is going to do for us as a people.”

“I think it is almost child’s play for anybody to deceive themselves that the 6.9 billion that will be collected eventually from the E-levy would be, in any case, anybody’s solution for the challenges we are currently faced with.”

“What do you need E-levy for? I think it’s time for all of us to start demanding as forcefully as we can for government to account to us. When you look at how much we have borrowed since the inception of this government six years down the line, how is GH¢6.9 billion going to offset the interest of all these amounts?” she asked.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta during the presentation of the 2022 budget announced the introduction of a 1.75% levy on all digital transactions.

The levy will be borne by persons who send money through any digital transactions except for inward remittances which will be borne by the recipient.

The government is seeking to raise a total revenue of GH¢6.9 billion from taxes on the E-Levy yearly.

But alluding to the Auditor-General’s report on some revenue losses the state made, the former Deputy Transport Minister indicated that the government has not lived up to expectations, considering the number of promises the NPP made prior to assuming office.

“The Auditor-General has given us a clear indication that at least GH¢12 billion has been lost by state institutions; half of that is what we are clamouring for to earn from the E-levy. What is that going to change?"

“Have you seen the other reports from the Auditor-General about Covid expenditure that they even spent as much as GH¢32 million on Covid meetings alone, another GHC100 million was expended on Veronica buckets, reusable masks, hand sanitisers, etc. Think about those figures; you listen to the World Bank representative come out in defence of the monies they had given to this government - $430 million…can you imagine what that amount looks like?”

According to her, “there was $250 million in the legacy or heritage account [but] it was expended also on Covid. Add that to the amount that was received from the World Bank, the IMF and all the other institutions that offered monies to this government.”

Since the announcement of the new levy, it has generated huge criticism against the government by some mobile money users.

Their concerns are that the levy if approved, will worsen the economic hardships in the country. The E-levy is different from other charges customers pay to service providers when performing any transaction.