A Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo has described the media encounter that the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia held last Sunday, August 25 as ‘politically unwise’.
To him, Dr Bawumia was taken on by the media for problems that he did not create such as the question asked him on the shooting and killing of the people in Techiman South during the 2020 general elections.
Prof Gyampo observed that Dr Bawumia struggled with that question.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, August 31, he said “The media encounter was politically unwise because you are going to be taken on on the issues of your boss.
“The Techiman shooting, this one cannot be blamed on him but he was asked a question on it,” he said.
“You are just taking the baggage of somebody who has misgoverned,” he stressed.
For his part, a Political Marketing Expert, Professor Kobby Mensah said his problem with the Bawumia campaign team his sudden change in principles.
To him, the very things that Dr Bawumia and the NPP accused their main opponent, John Mahama of, are happening presently under his watch because he does not want to accept responsibility.
Kobby Mensah recalled that when former President John Dramani Mahama mentioned that he was suffering from the dead goat syndrome, the NPP took it up but when the same is done to Dr Bawumia about him saying ‘What will he do if he does all the things now’, the NPP are saying it was a joke
“I am against the Bawumia campaign because of the change in principle,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, August 31.
Also, Head of Research at the Danquah Institute, Dr Frank Bannor said that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia seeks to implement a new tax regime if he is elected president.
He says the new tax regime will broaden the tax base and to capture more people in the tax bracket.
“He wants to change the fiscal regime, it won’t be just as we have it now because currently the tax is borne by a few,” Dr Bannor said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, August 31.
“Based on the new tax regime he is going to roll out, it will give him the room to implement new policies,” he added.
Dr Bawumia had promised in the 2024 manifesto to abolish the tax on electronic financial transaction, e-levy, if elected President of Ghana.
The controversial tax was introduced in 2022, and prior to the introduction, Vice President Bawumia had declared his opposition to levies on electronic financial transaction in an interview.
Dr. Bawumia minced no words in declaring his opposition to taxes on electronic financial transactions, declaring that he will abolish e-levy as President.
Dr Bawumia added that his bid for a Digital and Cashless Ghana will be significantly boosted if e-levy is abolished.
“To move towards a cashless economy, however, we have to encourage the population to use electronic channels payment. To accomplish this, there will be no taxes on digital payments under my administration. The e-levy will, therefore, be abolished,” he declared at the UPSA auditorium on February 7.
Dr. Bawumia also announced that as part of a new tax regime by his government, he will also abolish the emission tax, tax on betting as well as the proposed 15% VAT on electricity tariffs, if it is in existence by January 2025.
He also announced that his government would introduce what he described as a friendly, flat tax regime for Ghana, which will boost individuals and businesses, particularly small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
“My administration will introduce a very simple, citizen and business-friendly flat tax regime. A flat tax of a percentage of income for individuals and SMEs, which constitute 98% of all businesses in Ghana, with appropriate exemption thresholds set to protect the poor,” Dr. Bawumia indicated.
