The Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance are being sued by three members of the minority in parliament for their attempts to give tax breaks to around forty-two enterprises as part of the One District One Factory program.
The lawmakers are pleading with the Supreme Court to halt the waivers because they believe it would be unwise for the nation to provide such favors at a time when its economy is in complete collapse.
The three MPs, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, Kwame Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, and Bernard Ahiafor, MP for Akatsi South, claim that the exemptions typically serve the interests of certain people rather than Ghana’s.
They go on to say that the action is unlawful because it violates Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution.
They want the supreme court to rule that the waivers are void and have no legal force because they are incompatible with the law.
Bernard Ahiafor, the MP for Akatsi South, believes that the nation should turn to the Supreme Court for assistance in order to prevent the loss of those enormous quantities of money.
“It appears Article 174 of the Constitution is being violated, the Supreme Court is giving an exclusive jurisdiction to interpret, therefore, any citizen who is aggrieved that a particular portion of the Constitution is being contravened, the remedy available is to seek for interpretation and declaration at the Supreme Court which is the apex court.
“That is exactly what we have done in the circumstance, we’re seeking relief against the ones that are being implemented and the ones that are yet to be implemented,” the Akatsi South MP stated.
Background
The list of corporations that have requested tax waivers under 1D1F was made public by the government on May 20.
Under the government’s One District One Factory program, the Ministry of Finance started the procedures in 2021 to get tax exemptions totaling about $335,072,712.13 for about 42 enterprises.
In 2022, Ken Ofori-Atta, the former Minister of Finance, introduced the Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083), in Parliament.
Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited, a recently founded company, has the greatest amount among the others, $164,633,012.00.
Source: newsthemegh.com