By Kesah Princely, In Buea
As Persons with Disabilities, PWDs in Cameroon continue to mount pressure on the government to exonerate them from a recent Mobile Money Tax, their counterparts in Ghana have waged the same campaign as a similar tax soon gets underway.
Since January 01, 2022, leaders of PWDs in Cameroon have been clamouring for exemption from a levy on Mobile Money which charges 0.2 per cent on both deposit and withdrawal transactions.
Although the government is yet to address this worry raised by PWD leaders, advocates remain steadfast they will push through as the law remains nightmarish in the process of disability inclusion.
Equally read: Persons With Disabilities Cry Out Three Weeks After Application Of Mobile Money Tax In Cameroon
Inspired by the campaign aimed at exempting Cameroonian PWDs from the Mobile Money Tax, the Chairman of a disability advocacy group, Ghana Disability Forum, Alexander Tetteh has launched an aggressive move as his country’s parliament currently debates on a similar bill.
The E-Levy bill which is considered a great danger to Persons with Disabilities first charged 1.7 per cent, a situation which attracted wide criticism from citizens and opposition politicians.
The government, in response, reduced the tax to 1.5 per cent, despite consistent calls from critics to abort the bill.
To the Ghanian government, scrapping off the levy would keep the country in continuous economic challenges.
What The Electronic Transfer Levy Means To PWDs In Ghana
If promulgated, the economic situation of Persons with Disabilities in the West African country will grow worst as they continue to suffer from unemployment and inadequate social protection interventions as reveals Alexander Tetteh.
The Director of the Centre for Employment of Persons with Disabilities, CEPD, Alexander Tetteh told TWIF NEWS that, PWDs in Ghana are suffering a lot.
He firmly underscored that, not exempting them from the impending E-Levy only adds insult to injury.
“Ghana is drawing inspiration from leaders of Persons with Disabilities in Cameroon. Our battle is on, and we hope to make the best out of it.
We thank those of you in Cameroon for such a great source of inspiration,” the disability advocate intimated.
According to him, losing 1.5 per cent of funds for every transaction will mean danger to his peers with disabilities who barely struggle to make a living.
“If Cameroonian PWDs cannot bare the socio-economic effects that a 0.2 per cent levy can do them, imagine what 1.7 or 1.5 per cent tax could cause an average Ghanian with a disability,” he lamented.
Persons with Disabilities in Ghana have badly been devastated by the move to implement the tax as most of them save their little earnings in their Mobile Money accounts for rainy days.
With the emergence of an educated class of Persons with Disabilities across Africa, advocacy for Inclusion is now championed by PWDs themselves who are now bent on changing the narrative.
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