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0 The Minority in Parliament has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of attempting to introduce a 0.75% charge on mobile money transactions through the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and a private sector fintech arrangement, instead of the formal parliamentary process.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, May 26, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin alleged that the government was relying on regulatory institutions and private sector platforms to implement what he described as “hidden charges” on mobile money users’ wallet-to-bank transfers.
“For the purposes of this levy, they are using the Bank of Ghana and a private sector fintech company as a vehicle to enforce this levy,” he claimed.
According to him, the proposed levy on wallet-to-bank transfers was expected to take effect from 1st June but was later suspended by the Bank of Ghana following public backlash.
He also questioned the process used to introduce the charge, arguing that it bypassed Parliament and the standard budgetary approval framework.
Afenyo-Markin contrasted the situation with previous administrations, insisting that similar fiscal measures were introduced through the national budget and approved by Parliament before implementation.
He further called on the Finance Minister to appear before Parliament to explain the circumstances surrounding the proposed charge and its suspension.
The Minority Leader stressed that Parliament must be fully involved in any policy that imposes charges on financial transactions, particularly in the rapidly growing mobile money ecosystem.
“We are not interested in the suspension. We are interested in how this was introduced and why Parliament was not engaged,” he said.
The Bank of Ghana has announced that the levy has been suspended for further stakeholder consultations. However, the Minority maintains that the process raises serious questions about transparency and accountability in fiscal policy implementation.
