Humbled!

“In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then initiate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage. Then lend the eye a terrible aspect…” King Henry the Fifth -William Shakespeare.

“HAPPINESS IS A GIFT AND THE TRICK IS NOT TO EXPECT IT, BUT TO DELIGHT IN IT WHEN IT COMES” so says Charles Dickens. He notes again: “The most important thing in life is to stop saying 'I wish' and start saying 'I will'. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”

Saying you “feel humbled” is not the same as saying you “feel humiliated”. The former is positive (enhancing your ego) the latter negative (diminishing your self-esteem). You need to count yourself exalted when you get a very “important” man with whom you are not acquainted looking for you and heaping praises on you when he finds you. Not knowing how to respond, you only say: “I am humbled”. Perhaps you remember what Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his paper 'Harijan' on February 17, 1940: “It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might be weakened, and the wisest might err”. Then, while you cogitate upon Mark Twain's words: “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with their experience”, you cannot forget Moliere's dictum: “The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it… the trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit”.

So, we get admonished – and much of the advice is personal, and not for public consumption, and we will forever be grateful, Nana…

But whilst chewing on the advice received, we cast our minds back on the e-levy debate, the most current controversial and touchy issue confronting the national psyche. We consider as timeous the argument by Honourable Carlos Ahenkorah, MP for Tema West, one time Deputy Minister of Trade. On the e-levy Carlos had noted on Joy News: “It is not a compulsory tax; if you don't do MoMo, you don't pay. So if you don't want to pay, don't do MoMo”. It's simple. His advice would go to Bernard Mornah and his “Justice for Ghana” group who seem to play to the gallery: “What I'm telling them is that they don't seem to understand what's going on. Look, if they continue and government decides that (it is not) going to charge any more e-levy (it will have) to go and borrow money and it becomes a burden for you and me to pay”.

Social media have not been kind to Honourable Carlos Ahenkorah for this innocuous comment. People do not care about the telcos charging them any amount for transactions with them (1% at either end, making 2%), but will be hesitant to part with any “insignificant” figure that will go to government. The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, has vowed to kick against the government's 1.75% e-levy. Hear him: “Our concern is whether the e-levy itself will not be a disincentive to the growth of a digital economy in our country. We are convinced that the e-levy may as well even be a disincentive to investments and private sector development. We who are in the Minority will not support government with the introduction of that e-levy. We are unable to build national consensus on that particular matter”.

In reaction, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. John Kumah explained that the GH¢100 limit for the e-levy was meant to protect the poor and vulnerable. He stressed: “This is one of the progressive taxes in terms of the ability to pay principle in tax. It is one of the most equitable in terms of its outreach. If you are a banker and you send mobile money and you (go beyond) the threshold, you pay. If you are a carpenter, a mason, or a farmer, and you send (mobile money) within the threshold, you don't pay. There's nothing like we are concentrating on a particular section of society”. Nothing can be more “veritates” (facts) or “narrationem” (statement of facts).

Surprised? No, no, no. Metaphorically speaking, it is a political albatross. Around AD 70, Emperor Vespasian re-introduced the “urine tax”. His son, Titus, insisted that the tax was disgusting – “urine tax”? People did not pay to urinate; it was the buyers of the urine from Rome's public toilets that paid. Emperor Nero had imposed it in the first century AD under the name of “vectigalurinae” and later abolished it. Vespasian's curt answer to his son's charade was “pecunia non olet” (money does not stink). Or to re-phrase it: “The value of money is not tainted by its origins”.

Who says payment or collection of taxes has always been an easy task? Remember the “Boston Tea Party”? It was a political protest by the “sons of liberty” in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. on December 16, 1773. The protest was against the British Parliament's Tea Act of May 10, 1773 which permitted only the British India Company to sell tea in the American colonies without paying the usual 25% and valorem taxes as the other competitors did. The protestors led by Thomas Hutchinson, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and William Molineaux boarded the ships and cast the chests of the tea into the sea in Boston Harbour. The British government reacted fiercely, leading to the American Revolution. The initial war-chant was “no taxation without representation” that is, they sought to be taxed by their own elected “representatives”, objecting to the Tea Act because it violated their rights as Englishmen. In 1774, the British Parliament introduced the “Intolerable Acts” which ended local self-government in Massachusetts. The colonists (the Whigs) resolved to abstain from drinking British tea, preferring the local Labrador Tea.

For us in Ghana now, the 1992 Constitution is our “guide” for most political actions. Both the Majority (NPP) and Minority (NDC) have quoted Article 104 (1-3) of the 1992 Constitution to argue out whether the 2022 Budget has been passed or not. The article states: “Except as otherwise provided in this Constituion, matters in Parliament shall be determined by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting with at least half of all the members of Parliament present. (2) The Speaker shall have neither an original nor casting vote. (3) where the votes of any motion are equal it shall be taken to be lost…”

In “An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, Adam Smith notes: “Every new tax is immediately felt more or less by the people. It occasions always some murmur, and meets with some opposition”. So, it should not surprise anyone to see fierce opposition to the e-levy, coming from the Minority. Answer? It is a matter of discussion, negotiation, compromise. Forget about “do-me-I-do-you”. India's Gandhi notes: “An eye for an eye (Exodus 21:23-27) will make the whole world blind”. Ghanaian politicians spurn the pacifist approach at their own peril. As per Article 92 (3) of the 1992 Constitution, “The Council of State shall hold its meetings in camera…”, we trust that the Council is imbued with such great knowledge and experience as to draw the President's attention to the voluntary hara-kiri (suicide) he appears to be toying with.

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From AfricanusOwusu-Ansah