A complaint has been filed against the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Finance Ministry regarding the 1 District 1 Factory Initiative, which aims to give tax concessions to 42 enterprises.
Three members of the minority in parliament, led by Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, their deputy leader, filed the lawsuit.
The MPs contend that the tax waivers are not advantageous for the nation and are asking the Supreme Court to halt them.
The three MPs, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (MP for Ellembelle), Kwame Agbodza (MP for Adaklu), and Bernard Ahiafor (MP for Akatsi South), claim that it is not in Ghana’s best interest for the GRA to issue these tax waivers.
They contend that the tax waivers are unlawful because they are at odds with and go against Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution. They are asking the Supreme Court to rule that the waivers are void and have no legal significance.
Bernard Ahiafor, one of the plaintiffs, is pleading with the Supreme Court to get involved for the good of the nation.
If a citizen feels that a specific provision of the Constitution is being violated, they have the option to seek interpretation and declaration at the Supreme Court, the highest court, as it appears that Article 174 of the Constitution is being violated and the Supreme Court is granted exclusive jurisdiction to interpret.
He stated, “That is precisely what we have done in this situation; we are requesting relief against the ones that have already been put into effect as well as the ones that have not yet been put into effect.”
Concerning the tax exemption
The list of businesses requesting tax breaks under the 1D1F initiative was made public by the government on May 20.
The Ministry of Finance started the procedures in 2021 to get tax exemptions of over $335,072,712.13 for 42 businesses that were a part of the government’s One District One Factory program.
Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta introduced the Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083) in Parliament in 2022.
Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited, a recently founded company, has requested the largest exemption of all the companies, totaling $164,633,012.00.
