If you want more money, sack your ministers who are messing up with our money – Asiedu Nketia

The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia says President Akufo-Addo should sack his ministers who are misappropriating resources.

He said this will free up financial resources which could be used to develop the country.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Monday, he stressed that since assuming office, the New Patriotic Party has been involved in profligacy and wastage, which has adversely affected the economy.

According to him, the dire need for government to introduce the 1.75% E-Levy, is a result of the careless spending which the government has engaged in over the past few years.

“It is not by accident that we are where we are now, where the highest expenditure in our budget is the payment of interest on loans and salaries and all that. In 2017, when they were beginning, the first thing they did was to go for Eurobond at a rate that we felt was not good enough, because they could have gotten the money at a much lower rate. They disagreed, and they proceeded.”

“When they started appointing left, right, centre, increasing number of Ministers and all that, we told them that, all these come with cost. But they said the job is big the country has been run down, so we need many many people to run the show. We ended up with about 1,000 presidential staffers. We ended up with several appointees doing the work of the chief directors, all around, when you’re paying chief directors and all that.

“And so the result is that you have to take these salaries [and] emoluments and pay your interest rates, before if there’s anything left, you go and talk about development. So we warned them about all these things, they never listened and so we are not here by chance, we are here by the choice of President Akufo-Addo and his government”, Mr. Asiedu Nketia said.

He, therefore, told government, “If you want more money, sack your ministers who’re messing up with our money”.

Mr Asiedu Nketia’s comments were part of his submissions on the controversial E-levy Bill which appears to have hit a deadlock lock in Parliament. Touching on the recent events which have occurred in Parliament, he indicated that the Majority’s claim that the Speaker has not been cooperative does not hold water.

According to him, Speaker Bagbin is not mandated to facilitate government business, thus the Majority should devise their own ways of seeing to the promulgation of the levy.

Meanwhile, public sentiments concerning the 1.75% E-levy continue to be rife, with scores of citizens expressing their reservations about the new tax policy. But government maintains that if the tax is implemented, it will help government to generate more revenue to advance development in the country.

Source: Myjoyonline