APA – Accra (Ghana)
The pledge by President Akufo-Addo to the organised labour that the government is committed to protect incomes and pensions of workers dominates the headlines of the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the organised labour of the government’s commitment to protect incomes and pensions of workers.
“During last year’s celebrations at the Independence Square, I assured you of the government’s commitment to protect jobs, incomes and pensions of work
“Not only did the government demonstrate it in the course of the year, but it actually proceeded to improve upon the existing incomes of workers and pensioners,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance at this year’s May Day celebration which was held in Bolgatanga, the Upper East regional capital, yesterday.
The event, which was the first to be held in the region, was on the theme: “Protecting incomes and pensions in an era of economic crisis: Our responsibility”.
The President recalled how the government paid workers the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to cushion them against the prevailing economic challenges in the country after a successful dialogue with organised labour.
“As a sign of goodwill for workers, the National Tripartite Committee agreed to the payment of the 15 per cent COLA, in addition to the 10 per cent upward adjustment of the 2023 daily minimum wage,” he added.
According to the President, “this was no mean achievement as it was the first time in the determination of the national daily minimum wage after wage adjustment for the year had already been agreed on”.
The newspaper says that the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Accra on Monday afternoon for a day’s visit to Ghana.
He will hold bilateral talks with President Akufo-Addo on Monday evening.
In a pre-departure towards Accra statement, the Japanese PM said it was a great pleasure to be able to visit Ghana, which plays a pivotal role in West Africa.
This is the first visit by a Japanese Prime Minister to Ghana in 17 years.
“I am very delighted to be able to finally return to Ghana as the Prime Minister of Japan, after overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic,” he stated.
The Ghanaian Times reports that a total of 74 Ghanaians evacuated from conflict-stricken Sudan are expected to arrive home today (Tuesday), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI) has announced.
A statement issued by the Ministry said, arrangement were ongoing to fly them to Accra from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they were initially taken to safety.
It said those coming home were amongst 76 Ghanaians, who successfully crossed the Sudan/Ethiopia border with the assistance of officials of the Ghana Embassy in Ethiopia.
Additionally, the MFARI said one footballer and two engineers had been assisted by officials of the Ghana Embassy in Egypt to cross over the Egyptian border post of WadiHalfa, north of Sudan, while two other footballers were going through immigration formalities.
“The Ministry wishes to reiterate its commitment to evacuate all willing Ghanaian nationals in Sudan to safety to neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Egypt,” it said.
“The Ministry will continue to keep the public abreast of any new development regarding the evacuation exercise,” it said.
It is recalled that the government, through the Ministry, last Tuesday, announced plans to evacuate Ghanaians, including many students from Sudan, where a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in casualties.
The ministry said it was working with the Ghana Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, which has concurrent accreditation to the Sudan and Ghana’s Honorary Consulate in Khartoum, the Sudan capital to secure their safe passage to Ethiopia.
Hundreds of foreigners are fleeing Sudan as the country entered a third week of fighting between rival military forces despite a ceasefire.
The newspaper says that the implementation of the three new and revised taxes projected to rake in about GH¢4 billion domestic revenue annually, took off yesterday across the country.
Introduced in the 2023 Budget statement and Economic Policy to shore up the country’s revenue, they are Excise Amendment Act, 2023; Income Tax Amendment Act, 2023; and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, 2023.
The taxes are said to be crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programmestaff-level agreement.
Passed by parliament on March 31, despite opposition from minority in parliamentary and the business community, the new levies received Presidential assent last month.
Ahead of the implementation, the GRA issued a notice to give businesses sufficient time to configure their systems for the taxes since the laws were passed.
Citinewsroom reports that the Excise Duty Amendment Act has been expanded to cover some items and commodities that were previously not captured, which has resulted in increased prices for processed fruit juice, cigar, mineral water, spirits, wines, and sparkling wine.
The Income Tax Amendment Act now charges a minimum of five percent on firms declaring losses for five years while individuals earning income beyond ¢500 would attract some taxes, and the more one earns, the more taxes one will pay to the state.
The Growth and Sustainability Levy Act requires banks, non-bank financial institutions, telecom companies, and firms working in the oil sector to pay five per cent of their profit before tax to the state.
Mining firms, oil and gas companies will pay one percent of their gross production, and all other firms will pay 2.5 per cent of their profit before tax to the GRA.
Before the implementation, some trade unions in the country expressed their discontent with the three revenue tax bills.
The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, expressed disappointment with the laws explaining that it would affect the rate of tax compliance by businesses.
He said Ghanaian businesses were particularly not competitive in the West African Sub-Region due to the high taxes that they had to pay.
According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC)’s Deputy Secretary-General, Joshua Ansah, the passage of the three new revenue taxes would make life more difficult for Ghanaians, as many of the new taxes would be passed on to consumers and lead to massive job cuts.
GIK/APA