By The Majority wants the Minority to get its house in order regarding government business.
However, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Richard Acheampong, insists that claims that the NDC side is working to derail activities in Parliament are unfounded.
This follows accusations by the Majority that the Minority caucus is attempting to sabotage Ghana’s economic growth through their persistent opposition to some tax waivers currently under consideration by the House.
“The Minority leader, Dr Ato Forson is leading that charge on behalf of the minority NDC in Parliament, and their main aim is to obstruct government business and to deny the people of Ghana the needed economic growth, which will result from businesses investing in the country and expanding their businesses,“ the Majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said.
There are up to $400 million worth of tax waiver requests that have been pending at the Finance Committee for over three years, entangled in a political stalemate.
But speaking on Joy FM’s Newsnite, Richard Acheampong said the NDC MPs cannot be blamed for the stagnation.
“Why the sudden U-turn for the Minority Leader to blame the Minority who has no hand in pushing government business? If they have an internal issue, they should resolve it among themselves.
“We have nothing to do with the NPP. We are ready to help government achieve whatever it wants to achieve.”
Read also: https://accralive.com/majority-accuses-minority-of-sabotaging-ghanas-economic-growth-by-continuously-blocking-tax-waivers/
Speaking to journalists in Parliament earlier on Thursday, May 30, the Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the NDC was being hypocritical.
He asserted that the NDC government, led by former President John Mahama, had granted MPs more than $800 million in tax waivers during their tenure.
“But we know that in 2016, this country experienced the most outrageous tax giveaway we’ve ever seen in Ghana when the NDC led by President John Mahama handed a tax waiver of $832 million to Meridian Port Services. At the time, the NDC government applied for a tax waiver of $982 million for the port project,” he said.
“And through the vigilance of the minority then, we shut it down up to $832 million, saved the government and the people of Ghana some $100 million, and even requested that further works be done,” he added.
