How BBC reported Parliament brawl: Ghana MPs brawl in parliament over mobile money tax

• Posted on December 21, 2021December 21, 2021
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

A brawl has broken out in Ghana’s parliament during a late-night session over a contentious government-proposed levy on electronic transactions. 

MPs shoved, pushed and threw punches at each other, while others tried to stop the fighting.

The chaos started after opposition MPs rushed forward to prevent Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu from leaving his seat to vote, local media reports. 

He was chairing the session, which was then adjourned because of the disorder. 

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the proposed levy of 1.75% on electronic transactions, which includes mobile-money payments.

It says it will hit low-income people and those outside the formal banking sector. https://buy.tinypass.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=tYOkq7qlAI&templateId=OTBYI8Q89QWC&templateVariantId=OTV0YFYSXVQWV&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EXAWX60BX4NU&iframeId=offer_0e763acc7b457c03340a-0&displayMode=inline&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com

But Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Artta has said it is necessary to widen the tax net, arguing that it could raise an extra 6.9bn Ghanaian cedi ($1.15bn; £870m) next year.

The parliamentary session began on Monday morning and broke up after midnight, the local Graphic newspaper reports.

The deputy speaker was seen as crucial as parliament has been heavily divided over the proposed tax. 

It was approved by parliament’s finance committee by 13 votes to 12, but only after its chairman cast the decisive vote in favour of the proposal, the Graphic says.

The parliamentary session is due to resume on Tuesday.

-BBC