The Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini, thinks there was a ploy by the government to reduce the numbers of the Minority in Parliament by inviting MPs from Tamale to the inauguration of the interchange in that metropolis.
He described it as a trick “that was attempted to be played on us” ahead of consideration of the Electronic Transfer Levy bill.
Mr. Suhuyini said he, along with his fellow MPs from Tamale, received an invitation for the event “only for us to hear the night before that there was an intention by government to introduce the e-levy in Parliament and to take a decision on it that day.”
He admitted that the MPs were torn between honouring the invitation because they would have “loved to be part of the commissioning.”
“But we were surprised when we got to Parliament the next day to see the Roads Minister himself seated in his seat… but he expected us to go to Tamale,” Mr. Suhuyini recounted.
Parliament passed the Electronic Transfer Levy on March 29, 2022, in the absence of the Minority MPs, who had walked out before the Bill was considered at the second reading stage.
The Minority MPs had complained that they had been taken by surprise by the unexpected consideration of the levy.
The Bill was not listed in Parliament’s business statement for the week in question.
The Minority MPs later walked out of Parliament before the second reading of the Bill after debating it.
