<<Print>>

The Member of Parliament for Ketu North and the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Ghana’s Parliament, James Klutse Avedzi, has advised newly appointed ministers to consider completing ongoing projects rather than starting new ones after they are approved to resume work.

According to him, all the newly appointed ministers and their deputies must see to the completion of projects started by their predecessors, considering how much of little time they have on their hands.

Speaking on JoyNews, monitored by Peacefmonline.com on February 14, the Ketu North legislator said, “It will add some level of change because, as I said earlier, ministers who have now come on board or have been given a new portfolio will now come with new ideas, but you know it takes some time for the new ideas that they will bring on board to manifest.

“First of all, they also need time to study the new ministries and their new portfolio and then see what they can do. It's nine months until the election, so they are now coming on board. By the time they settle to study their ministries and see the challenges that the ministry has, it will be getting to the election, and the campaign will become heated, so definitely they will not be able to implement any policy’’.

"Maybe with the existing policies, they might continue to implement those policies, but to bring on board a new policy within this period, I doubt it,” he added.

Touching on the Finance Ministry, he advised the new nominees to take time to properly study the ministry to understand all tax policies. This, he said, will help the minister find innovative ways to increase the tax gap rather than burden the few individuals paying taxes. 

Hon. Klutse said, “If I were the new minister, what I would do is review the tax system. With all the taxes this government has introduced, which definitely burden the people of this country, I need to review the tax system." 

“Look at those that can be withdrawn or cancelled. That is what I will do, and I will also look at how I can expand the few that will remain. How we can expand it? You know taxes are such that if you continue to impose taxes on people who are already paying the tax, you are creating more burden for those people."

"There are other people who also earn income but are not taxed, so if we are able to expand the base and reduce the rate, people will feel comfortable paying the tax. Once the base is large and the rate is low, you will still achieve the revenue that you want."