General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, is against government’s decision to abolish all tolls on public roads and bridges across the country.
In his view, the policy will only overburden the poor who are struggling to make ends meet under the Akufo-Addo government.
“Per the economic conditions today, it is not sensible to scrap road tolls,” he said in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem programme, Thursday.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, while delivering the 2022 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, said drivers who ply tolled roads across the country, will no longer be required to pay tolls.
This was received as good news for motorists who spend a lot of time in traffic just to pay the GH¢1 toll levy.
This has taken effect after the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, asked for the closure of toll booths and bridges across the country.
But Mr Nketia, popularly known as General Mosquito, said abolishing road tolls by the Akufo-Addo government is a lazy way of raising revenue.
He questioned the alacrity with which the Roads Minister operationalised the directive even before the 2022 budget is approved.
“What does Amoako-Atta got to hide? Some drivers challenged him to account for the monies accrued in the road fund why has he not done that?” the NDC scribe quizzed.
General Mosquito maintained that, an NDC government will not have scrapped toll levy but rather broaden the tax net for more revenue.
He expressed disappointment in government’s inability to mobilise revenue through property rate but rather chose to overburden the poor tax payer.
“I didn’t hear anything in the budget about how government intends to raise revenue through property rate and I was very disappointed because they can get enough revenue there,” General Mosquito added.