Vice Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress John Mahama has raised reservations over the allocation of 5% revenue to Vodafone under the new agreement yet to be ratified by parliament.
According to him such an important issue was not even captured in the sales agreement, which puts the country at a disadvantaged point.
Explaining the minority position in a short interview with JOY FM’s Kojo Oppong Nkrumah minutes before the much anticipated debate begins on the floor of parliament, John Mahama said the opposition are not against the privatisation of GT but have huge concerns which have to be addressed.
He said the three year tax holiday extended to Vodafone was unacceptable, and worse of all was also not captured in the agreement.
He disputed claims that the minority are being mischievous in this GT transaction claiming they are exercising their watch dog roles over government.
He said their criticisms have increasingly made the agreement a better one, even though he mentioned there are some grey areas left to be considered.
According to him the 70% shares have been undervalued especially when the fibre optic back bone, fixed lines are part of the sales agreement.
But these assertions were contested by the Deputy Minister of Communications Fred Opare Ansah.
He said issues about the 3 year tax holiday and the 5% revenue to be advanced to Vodafone were originally captured in the agreement but had to be taken out to allow for the respective institutions of state to handle them.
“By the constitution of Ghana there are specific bodies like Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) who are expected to work on those things and it is incumbent on them to apply the laws where necessary.”
The exchanges set the stage for a thrilling debate on the floor of parliament.
Nathan Gadugah
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