Boss Bright

@ApodeiLarry

Accra, Ghana

Joined March 2012

735 Following

100 Followers

30 Posts

ApodeiLarry retweeted

Franklin CUDJOE

@lordcudjoe

4 days ago

Forwarded from another platform..See IMANI's take after reading this well argued commentary.. " WHEN A SYSTEM MAKES DECENT LIVING IMPOSSIBLE, IT CREATES DANGEROUS PRESSURE. GHANAIANS ARE ASKING FOR LOWER DUTIES, NOT VEHICLE BANS. To: John Dramani Mahama Let’s make this simple: Ghanaians are not asking government to ban imported vehicles. We are asking government to make them affordable. The real problem has never been simply the age of imported vehicles. The problem is the excessive duties, levies and taxes imposed on vehicles before an ordinary Ghanaian can legally put them on the road. Is it not insane to pay around GH₵72,000 in duty on a 2018 Honda Accord 1.5L Touring, when that same vehicle could potentially be bought for less than the duty alone at an auction in the USA? Let’s stop pretending. A significant number of vehicles on our roads are imported from auctions. Many are bought by young Ghanaians who are simply trying to acquire a decent, reliable vehicle within their means. So why are we making it unnecessarily difficult for them? Consider this: if a civil servant earns less than GH₵3,000 a month, how many years would it take to raise GH₵72,000 for duty? Even if that person saved the entire GH₵3,000 salary every month, without spending one pesewa on food, rent, transportation, electricity, family responsibilities or anything else, it would take 24 months, two full years. And we all know nobody can survive like that. So what exactly are we solving? A vehicle is not a luxury for many Ghanaians. It is a means of getting to work, doing business, transporting goods, taking children to school and earning a living. Then comes the taxation. Take the 15% VAT. Value Added Tax. Added value to what? If I personally import the vehicle with my own money, pay for it, ship it into Ghana and go through the entire importation process myself, what value has government added to that particular vehicle to justify charging me nearly GH₵32,000 in VAT? And let’s be clear: that GH₵32,000 VAT is not even the end of the story. There are additional levies, including approximately GH₵5,300 for the National Health Insurance Levy and another GH₵5,300 for the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Levy. So we have to ask: Are Ghanaians not already paying National Health Insurance contributions? Are we not already paying taxes that support education? Are parents not already paying school fees and other education-related charges? Why must an individual importing one vehicle be hit with thousands of cedis in additional charges for services for which citizens are already paying through other taxes and contributions? This is not an argument against taxation. It is an argument against excessive and layered taxation. And we need to confront a much bigger problem. ARE WE NOT PUSHING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE TOO HARD? Every human being wants a decent and comfortable life. Young Ghanaians are no different. They want a good home. They want a reliable car. They want to start businesses. They want to dress well, take care of their families and enjoy the fruits of their hard work. But when the legitimate route to achieving these things becomes increasingly difficult, expensive and frustrating, we create dangerous incentives for people to look for shortcuts. When a young person works honestly and earns GH₵3,000 a month, yet faces taxes, levies, duties, rent, food, transportation and family responsibilities that consume almost everything they earn, while basic assets remain out of reach, what kind of society are we building? We cannot keep squeezing citizens economically and then act surprised when some young people become desperate. Ghana must be careful not to create the conditions that push its own young people towards criminality. This is not an excuse for crime. Criminality is wrong and individuals must be responsible for their actions. But government also has a responsibility to create an economic environment where honest work can realistically provide a decent life. If the country we are citizens of becomes so expensive that citizens feel economically trapped by the very system that is supposed to serve them, then we have to ask serious questions about our policies. Taxation should fund development, not destroy the economic aspirations of the people being taxed. If government genuinely wants Ghanaians to use newer, safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles, then the solution should be obvious: MAKE NEWER VEHICLES AFFORDABLE. Reduce the duties, levies and taxes drastically. When newer vehicles become affordable to import and clear, people will naturally move away from very old vehicles. You cannot make newer vehicles unaffordable and then punish citizens for choosing older ones. And let's be honest about another reality: many of these vehicles are not purchased brand-new from manufacturers. They are used vehicles, often acquired through auctions because that is what ordinary people can afford. So instead of creating policies that effectively push decent vehicles beyond the reach of young Ghanaians, government should ask: How do we make safer and newer vehicles more affordable for the ordinary citizen? That is the conversation we should be having. Is owning a vehicle in Ghana now a crime? What exactly are we paying for? We have failed, as a country, to develop a strong domestic vehicle manufacturing industry, yet we impose enormous taxes on vehicles citizens import with their own money. If government wants to discourage old vehicles, don't ban people's choices. Fix the economics. Make newer cars affordable. Make the tax system reasonable. Make vehicle ownership accessible. Stop solving problems like blind people. Listen to what citizens are actually asking for. Ghanaians are not asking for favours. We are asking for reasonable taxation. LOWER THE DUTIES. LOWER THE LEVIES. MAKE NEWER VEHICLES AFFORDABLE. That is how you get people into newer vehicles, not by making decent cars financially impossible to own. JamesTheJust" IMANI Challenges GSA’s Ban on Vehicles Over 15 Years Old IMANI Centre for Policy & Education is questioning the Ghana Standards Authority’s blanket restriction on the importation of vehicles older than 15 years, arguing that roadworthiness, safety and mechanical condition should carry greater weight than age alone. While IMANI supports stronger controls against unsafe, flood-damaged and structurally compromised vehicles, the analysis raises legal, economic and consumer concerns about using a vehicle’s age as the decisive test. IMANI’s analysis highlights: 🔸 Whether the 15-year restriction has a clear statutory basis. 🔸 The need to distinguish vehicle safety from vehicle age. 🔸 Potential effects on consumers, dealers, mechanics and clearing agents. 🔸 Possible implications for Customs revenue and vehicle affordability. 🔸 The need to assess the actual benefits of protecting local vehicle assembly. “If danger is the disease, test for danger. Do not diagnose a vehicle by its birth certificate.” IMANI’s position is that regulation should target defects, not dates. Ghana can strengthen vehicle safety standards without unnecessarily pricing ordinary citizens out of mobility or disrupting the wider used vehicle ecosystem. Read the full IMANI analysis here: 🔗 https://t.co/kq8cXXebVd #IMANIvoices #GhanaEconomy #AutomotiveIndustry #ConsumerProtection #PublicPolicy #Governance

162

13K

Boss Bright

@ApodeiLarry

Who to follow

Last Seen Users on Sotwe

Trends for you

Most Popular Users