1% COVID-19 levy should be renamed Pandemic Levy – Lecturer tells gov’t

Dr Samuel Afriyie, Senior Marketing Lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU)

Senior Marketing Lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) Dr Samuel Afriyie has called for the renaming of COVID-19 levy.

He said the levy should renamed Pandemic Levy.

He noted that the decision to maintain the levy in the 2024 budget statement by the government does not serve the purpose for which it was established, after the end of the disease.

There have been several calls for the scrapping of the levy to relieve the suffering of Ghanaians amid the hardships in the country.

But, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, presenting the 2024 Budget Statement on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, in Parliament, made no mention of the 1% COVID-19 Recovery Levy.

Dr Samuel Afriyie in a panel discussion on Otec FM’s morning show ‘Nyansapo’ said he was expecting the scrapping of the levy.

“I was expecting the government to scrap the COVID-19 tax because the disease is no longer in the country, as stated by President Nana Akufo Addo in his COVID-19 update address.

“If the government wants to keep the outlived COVID levy it should be renamed ‘Pandemic Levy’, to take care of disasters that might hit the country, like the Akosombo Spillage,” he told the host, Captain Koda.