Former Deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, has described the reduction in benchmark value of import duties at the country’s ports, which took effect yesterday as illegal.
Speaking at a public lecture on Ghana’s Economy in Accra yesterday, Mr Forson argued that the benchmark valuation was outlawed by Customs Act 2015(Act, 891), urging the government to review its decision.
The lecture organised by the Coalition for Restoration, affiliated to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was on the theme: ‘The state of the Ghanaian Economy; Myths and Truths’.
It was held a day after the ruling government organised a town hall meeting during which the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the Economic Management Team touted government’s achievements.
Giving highlights of the lecture themed: ‘Our Purpose, Our Status, Our Future’, Dr Bawumia announced a reduction of benchmark value of import duties by 50 per cent while importers of vehicles will enjoy a 30 per cent decrease.
But responding to the announcement at the NDC lecture, the minority spokesperson on finance and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency in the Central Region, insisted the move was a wrong one.
The illegality of the reduction was abhorred by global trading bodies and could attract a ban for the country, he said, describing the action as a deceptive move akin to the tax cuts on spare parts which left dealers disappointed.
According to him, it was one of the ways government had left Ghana in a permanently trapped cycle of populism and lies, intimating that the next NDC government would have an uphill task to repair.
Main speaker of the lecture, Mr Isaac Adongo who doubles as MP for Bolgatanga Central, shared the view of the former finance minister, saying, while the party supported improvement of the lives of importers, the reduction , even if legal was negligible.
He blamed the government for the trouble the importers were in, alleging that the vice president was the one who manipulated the benchmark rates and therefore should find pragmatic ways to resolve the challenges in the sector.
The deception, created by the reduction, coupled with the spare parts tax cuts disappointment, he predicted, could spell doom for the government in the 2020 election.
By Jonathan Donkor
