The Member of Parliament for Tema West, Carlos Ahenkorah has said he was misrepresented in his comments on the E-levy proposal in the 2022 budget statement.
It was reported that Mr Ahenkorah had asked Ghanaians who do not want to pay the 1.75 e-levy to stop using Mobile Money (MoMo).
He said the propanganda against the e-levy for political expediency is nauseating.
He told TV3’s Komla Klutse in an interview in Parliament on Wednesday December 8 that “No human being or no person likes to pay tax but it is a known fact that taxes are generally appalled by people who are supposed to pay them.
“So, what is happening is quite understandable. But to the extent that it has been used to gain some political points or it is being done for political expediency, for me, is very unfortunate.
“I will tell you something, I have always been saying that the MoMo tax is not a compulsory tax, you only pay when you use it. If you don’t use it you don’t pay so for me, there is no way any other procedure for making payments is going to equal MoMo.
“Right now, what we are saying is the tax is targeted at those who have the ability to pay, not those who are receiving. If you are receiving it is okay to go and negotiate with the person who has gone to the bank to borrow money and be a MoMo agent, pay money out, otherwise keep the money on your phone and you don’t pay any money.
“It is money targeted at those who want to use the service, even if I stand here and tell people that if you like don’t pay or if you like don’t use MoMo, I tell you, using MoMo will be far cheaper. If you think using the MoMo service is difficult or expensive, you try taking your money out there and even see.”
But following the flak he recived on social after this publication, he issued a statement on Thursday December 9 saying his comments had been skewed.
Read below his full statement in response to the publication…
My attention has been drawn to a skewed headline by TV3 and cohorts on an interview granted them in Parliament on 8th of December 2021.
I entreat all discerning and well-meaning people to ignore the misleading headline which only does not in any way measure to what I meant and I shudder to understand why after a lengthy and fruitful Interview, TV3 would choose an answer to a question posed as a headline and contort my words to sound imitating to their good viewership. Please ignore this mischief and with the video they posted on their Instagram page which in itself is heavily edited.
The media is supposed to help build a strong society but not deliberately to pitch the various arms of society against itself. This kind of journalism is unhelpful, disappointing and undermines our governance. I expect TV3 to do better next time instead of resorting to this kind of headline mischief.
Signed
Hon Carlos Ahenkorah
MP, Tema West
