President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been left in the cold by his Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in the wake of recent comments by the latter to undo major tax handles of the current administration.
Bwumia’s announcement that he will abolish four tax handles if elected president at a public lecture to announce his vision for Ghana, triggered critique as to what his real motives are.
For the National Communications officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bawumia’s position on the Electronic Transfer Levey (E-Levy), the Emissions Levy, the VAT on electricity (now suspended pending consultations) and Betting Tax; was a sign of fissures at the seat of government.
“Even while alive, Akufo-Addo is suffering rejection. The man has become lonely, he is being stigmatized,” Sammy submitted on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme earlier this week.
Asked if he was now speaking for Akufo-Addo, he replied: “I am not talking for him but you can’t but pity him. The reality is that Ghanaians know Akufo-Addo and Bawumia are Siamese twins, bound at the umbilical cord, inseparable.
“A brother you have helped to rise, Bawumia is functional only after Akufo-Addo gives him a task to undertake, yet he rejects Akufo-Addo in a major public engagement,” he stressed.
When confronted with the fact that a key member of the Bawumia camp, Sammi Awuku, said the president, finance minister and others were aware of the content of the speech, Sammy Gyamfi hit back by saying even the president was not present at the said event stressing that it was a further sign of the fissures.
