Today in History: Akufo-Addo's govt puts money in your pocket by taking money out of your pocket - Jinapor

During the 2019 budget reading, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta stated that the Akufo-Addo government has put money in the pockets of the ordinary Ghanaian.

But reacting to this claim, the Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor rejected the government’s position on directly providing for Ghanaians.

Citing the increment of taxes at the time, he said the Akufo-Addo-led government had failed Ghanaians and it was worrying for the Finance Minister to say “government has put money in Ghanaians pocket. This is a government that has increased our income tax from 25 to 30 and yet the minister looks into our faces and tells us that they haven’t taken all this money from our pockets.

"He has put money in our pockets? Put money in our pockets indeed! It is only the NPP government that puts money in your pockets by taking money out of your pockets,” he told journalists in parliament

Read the full story originally published on November 19, 2019, on Ghanaweb

Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu Constituency, Northern Region John Abdulai Jinapor, has raised concerns about government’s suggestions that it is putting money in the pocket of Ghanaians as stated by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in the 2020 budget presentation.

According to him, the increment in taxes after the assumption of the Akufo-Addo-led government clearly shows they have failed Ghanaians and it is therefore worrying for the finance minister to say “Government has put money in Ghanaians pocket.”

He believes the Akufo-Addo-led government only acts like they are helping Ghanaians when they are actually taking money out of your pockets.

Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori, while delivering the 2020 Budget statement in Parliament last week said government has directly or indirectly put an amount of GHC 12.2 billion into the pockets of many Ghanaians since 2017 through its major initiatives and social interventions.

These initiatives and social intervention include: Free SHS policy, planting for Food and Job, NABCO, and others.

However, speaking on the floor of parliament during the 2020 budget debate, John Abdulai Jinapor, said the Finance Minister’s claims are false as Ghanaians have suffered more under the Akufo-Addo government.

He said “This is the government that has increased taxes on diesel, taxes on petrol, increased the communication tax by 50% and even gone to the extent of increasing tax on ordinary LPG that we use for cooking, when you do arithmetic we consume 4.6 billion liters of petroleum product every year. When you check this increment and the taxes, for the tax payer, you are taking directly from the ordinary tax payer 10 billion cedis. This is a government that promised us that assumption of office the will reduce custom tax but has failed us.”

“This is a government that has increased our income tax from 25 to 30 and yet the minister looks into our faces and tells us that they haven taken all this money from our pockets. He has put money in our pockets? Put money in our pockets indeed! It is only the NPP government that puts money in your pockets by taking money out of your pockets.”

Meanwhile some Ghanaians have taken a swipe at Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta over suggestions that Ghanaians have been heavily relieved since the coming into office of the NPP government because their efforts on various fronts have put monies into the pockets of Ghanaians.

Some Ghanaians who spoke to www.ghanaweb.com described the claims as false, noting that it wouldn’t be far from right to state that government officials are the only beneficiaries of these monies.

Instead they said, this ‘robotic’ economy has left citizenries with nothing but hardship.