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A chevy of a levy
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Chevrolet, (pronounced sher-vro-lay), is an American car from the stable of General Motors, (GM). Its short form is Chevy, (pronounced sher-vy). Interestingly, both its full name and short form are real words in Spanish and English respectively, with some fascinating connotations. According to the online Word Magic English-Spanish Dictionary, Chevrolet in Spanish means persecution. In English, the short form, chevy, means persecution as well, with synonyms such as torment, irritation, annoyance, nag, badger, heat, pursuit, chase, or harass.
Sometimes, it is spelt chivvy which means to obtain by small manoeuvres. Another meaning attributed to the word is confusion. It is also listed as a crossword-clue for an act of pursuing with an effort to overtake or capture. In short, it implies going after with the intent to catch.
Whatever meaning is adopted for the full form or the shorter version of the word, one thing is certain. It has elements of a pursuit, irritation, and confusion in it. The Electronic Transaction Levy (commonly known as Electronic Levy or E-Levy) proposed by the Government of Ghana seems to be one chevy of a levy, what, with all the confusion surrounding it and the schemes to push it down the throats of Ghanaians? Its discussion has even led to a nasty brawl in parliament. Now, you understand why I call it a chevy of a levy. It has already led to irritation, chaos, and disagreements.
The levy, pegged at 1.75 per cent on all electronic transactions in the informal sector, was proposed on November 17, 2021, by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta during the presentation of the 2022 budget. Transactions above GH¢100.00 will be affected and areas to be captured under the levy include the following:
- All inward remittances (which would be paid by the recipient)
- All person-to-person mobile transactions (which includes sending of funds to another account, payment for goods and services, payment of utilities
- All POS/Merchant payments.(POS means Point of Sale), that is, the place where a transaction takes place. It may be virtual or real.
The minister said the policy would not only widen the tax net but could generate about $1.15 billion to be used for the payment of contractors in Ghana. Besides, revenue from the levy would provide funds to support entrepreneurship, cyber and digital security; road infrastructure and job creation for about 11 million people in the country, as well as help reduce borrowing and the national debt.
He justified the introduction of the levy with the explanation that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the use of digital platforms for transactions. That rationalisation is tantamount to turning the already impoverished masses into easy prey to make a quick buck.
The Government should be told in no uncertain terms that you cannot eat your cake and have it. Were we not told that Ghana was gearing towards a cashless economy, and that digitisation was the tool to achieve that? Why then should there be a tax on digitisation improvement? This ambivalence could be suicidal, defeatist, and counter-productive.
Truth be told, no nation can develop without relying on some form of taxation. Economic experts stress that Africa’s development is stifled by certain critical deficits which, if not addressed, would continue to impede the continent’s advancement. They include low access to healthcare together with poor service, high illiteracy rate as well as poor quality of education and inadequate energy supply to fuel industrialisation, add value to primary products, boost exports and reduce imports.
Without doubt, education remains the backbone of sustainable development. That is why the introduction of the Free Senior High School by the Government must be lauded. Though fraught with a lot of difficulties, it is a step in the right direction. It only needs fine-tuning which must be done with consultation, not unilaterally. With time, the benefits will be self-evident through the skills acquired and increased productivity among other things.
Not much can be said for the energy sector. For a country with so much promise in the immediate post-independence era even without oil, we still lag behind big time as far as our energy generation is concerned. Some efforts have been made to reduce the deficit, but major investments must be made in alternative sources like solar and wind to address the shortfall and help meet the country’s sustainable development goals.
Another vital area of concern that the experts blame for the continent’s lack of development is the deficit in domestic revenue mobilisation which has long starved Africa of vital funds needed to sponsor spending and various public expenditures at various levels of development – national, regional, and district.
It takes taxation to meet those goals. But when individuals and corporate entities transfer their wealth to the government this way, they do so with the understanding that the money will be used in the most judicious manner to improve the general well-being of the people.
In fact, the inflows we receive from the advanced countries in the form of aid, loans and foreign direct investments are made possible through taxation. Their tax to GDP ratio is way higher than Africa in general and Ghana in particular. The tax to GDP ratio is the contribution of taxes to the country’s total monetary or market value of its finished products and services within a year
It is agreed that at around 12 per cent, Ghana’s tax to GDP ratio is lower than the 16.5 per cent average for Sub-Saharan Africa recommended as the minimum threshold for a fairly healthy economy. Available records indicate that as of August 2021, only 2.4 million, (13.3per cent) out ofabout 18 million potential income taxpayers, were registered as personal income taxpayers.
Meanwhile, only 45,109 entities are reported to be registered as corporate taxpayers while 54,364 persons are registered as self-employed taxpayers at the Ghana Revenue Authority. On the other hand, there are about 17 million registered voters and about 19 million active mobile money accounts. That obviously makes Ghana’s economy a very informal one and that does not conduce to effective mobilisation of personal income tax through the P.A.Y.E. system as pertains in developed countries. The statistics do not look good for development.
It is against this backdrop that the Government sees the E-Levy as an opportunity to make up lost ground. In the Minister’s calculation, the E-Levy, if passed as proposed, would widen the tax base in the medium term and increase the country’s tax to Gross Domestic Ratio (GDP) to 16.5 per cent and subsequently to 20 per cent, “as pertains among our peers.”
Very lofty and laudable ideas if you asked me! But for Ghana, and most African countries, the problem is not so much the lack of resources as our own doing. Mismanagement, corruption, misplaced priorities, insensitivity to the plight of the masses and a host of other self-imposed burdens have conspired to put the gear of progress in reverse.
The Akans have a proverb that: “3mmoa a, omo kՉՉ adidie mmae a, y3nnka bi nnkՉgu mu.” That translates loosely to: “It is unwise to send more cattle out for grazing if the previous herd has not returned home.”
For a start, the levy should be pegged at one per cent given the fairly large size of the cohort of the population projected to be targeted. Besides, we must be meticulously prudent in managing the money and have verifiable evidence of the proper allocation of resources earmarked for the various sectors of our development plan. The advanced countries do it so well that they can squeeze a substantial chunk for us and still manage their health services, education, energy, infrastructure, and housing very well.
Not so in our part of the world where we can collect road tolls for decades yet cannot show concretely how roads benefitted from such tolls. Now, we are told that the toll has been scrapped but only God knows how it will resurrect in one form or another.
In recent times, how many new taxes have been introduced or are to be introduced? I mean the VAT FLAT RATE SCHEME,(VFRS), introduced for retailers and wholesalers at three per cent; VAT withholding, COVID-19 Health Levy adding one percentage point to both VFRS and NHIL, and others? Some have been scrapped but it is like “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Ghana needs the money to fast-track its economic transformation. But for this to happen, people have to be healthy, trained to acquire skills, live in decent housing, have access to affordable means of transportation as well as get credit. These are the things that developed countries ensure for their people through the taxes they collect. And these are integral to any development agenda planned for Ghana.
Contact: teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
The average modern Gold Coaster born and bred in Sikaman is an adventurous creature. Go to any part of the world and you’ll find Ghanaman diligently slugging it out either in the snow or in hot sweltering weather, earning a decent living.
Go to Guinea and see Ghanaman in the garb of a herbalist, curing the sick of various ailments. He makes the Guinean understand that not all diseases are caused by James Lucifer alias Jimmy Satan. On the contrary, most diseases are caused by kooko which can even attack the human nose and turn it upside down.
That kooko is also the cause of poverty and the internal bleeding of personal back-pocket economies. And that kooko can be cured using the chemistry underlying Sikaman herbal medicine which has been blessed by the gods of Larteh.
And before Ghanaman starts dispensing his herbal concoctions, he must attract the passing crowd with some Sıkaman-originated choreography, akin to a combination of adowa and agbadza, such that the dancer can easily dislocate a shoulder and start crying for his mother.
When the crowd is enough to form a quorum, Ghanaman must perform magic as a side-attraction, and proceed to sell his drugs. The drugs are genuinely made from potent herbs which the Pharmacy Board of Sikaman says it has no confidence in. Believe me, Ghanaian herbalists are practising in neighbouring countries like Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Benin, while we are discouraging them from practising in Sikaman.
Go to Las Palmas and see Ghanaman as a fisherman. He sails on Korean-owned boats and is forced to eat garlic and raw tuna for radiant health. The garlic is also supposed to protect him against witches. But sometimes, he is not good bedfellows with some Korean crew members, and once in a while a fight breaks out.
The typical Korean is a Kung Fu expert and before displaying a golden dragon data. He must first terrify Ghanaman with a Korean dance which consists of wild arms and leg throwing. But Ghanaman is usually not daunted. Why has he been eating cancer kenkey all years without developing cancer? It mean is a superhuman capable of countering Kun fu side-kicks to the ribs.
Anyhow Ghanaman’s most potent arsenal lies in his fists. If he is a southpaw, it mean left fist is probably insured and can cause damage. When Ghanaman lands a cassava blow and it lands on a Korean chest, it has the effect of a cruise missile. If there is no ceasefire a funeral cannot be ruled out.
Greenland
Go to Alaska and find Ghanaman there. Greenland, Iceland, Brazil, Argentina, Madagascar, everywhere and you’ll find him. He has become an international citizen and is generally lauded for his hardwork, sincerity and honesty.
However, some bad nuts are also condemned and despised.
The world and all its parts and corners are for the human race, and anyone can choose to live anywhere and earn a decent living so long as he doesn’t misconduct himself or become a social misfit and a law unto himself.
Sıkaman for instance accepts foreigners, and we are so liberal that people just come in through our borders and we welcome them with the best palmwine in town and goat light soup. Who cares about passports and visas? Our hospitality is, as it were legendary.
So we have Liberians, Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans, Togolese, Europeans, Americans, Scandinavians and Koreans in Sikaman. And some of them have misinterpreted our overzealous accommodation to mean “foolishness” and are misconducting themselves.
The newspapers carry stories of some unscrupulous Nigerians stealing, defrauding and collaborating with their Sikaman counterparts to rob people. You’ll find some good and law-abiding Liberians around but some other Liberians are in the business of fraud, robbery, money printing, money doubling, anything criminal.
Ghanaian hospitality can no longer be extended to such people. I do not think Ghanaians will be treated kindly either, when they misbehave anywhere in the world. Those who come from outside with the intention of bringing down their evil deeds and to practise them here professionally must be getting ready because Ghanaians are getting fed up with the menace.
These days, you’ll find strange people following you as soon as you emerge from a bank. If you are not careful, they’ll wrestle your briefcase from you and speed away in a waiting taxi.
Someone was just saying that many foreign criminals are flocking to Ghana because in their countries, they are enable to operate either because they are being looked for by the police for offences committed or fear instant justice at the hands of mobs. Ghanaians, it is said, are humanitarian in dealing with criminals.
Well, in some African countries, a thief who is being chased runs directly to the police station in his own interest and begs the officer at the counter to lock him up. Otherwise he’ll be lynched or be burnt to death. In Ghana, it is the opposite. The thieves run far away from the cop stations.
The criminals must reform and stay peacefully in Sikaman or quit. No court case!
This article was first published on Saturday September 5, 1998
The human condition is defined by two absolute, biological bookends: the commencement of complex cellular animation and its ultimate, irreversible cessation.
For centuries, medicine treated life and death as strictly separate states. Today, modern pathology and molecular biology reveal a more profound truth: the mechanisms that allow us to live are the exact same mechanisms that dictate how we die.
Understanding this relationship is no longer just a philosophical pursuit. It is a clinical necessity for managing public health in the 21st century.
Part I: How we live – The mechanics of animation
At its core, biological life is a continuous, high-stakes battle against entropy (the natural tendency of systems to degrade into disorder). To maintain form, consciousness, and function, the human body relies on three fundamental pillars:
1. Cellular respiration and energy production
Every second of human life is powered by the conversion of oxygen and glucose into Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy currency of our cells. This process occurs within the mitochondria.
Without a constant supply of ATP, the microscopic pumps that maintain electrical gradients across our cell membranes fail, causing cellular collapse within minutes.
2. Homeostasis: The balancing act
To survive, the internal environment of the body must remain incredibly stable, regardless of external chaos. This balancing act, known as homeostasis, regulates:
Blood pH: Strictly maintained between 7.35 and 7.45.
Core Temperature: Ideally kept around 37°C (98.6°F).
Electrolyte Balance: Precise ratios of sodium, potassium, and calcium that allow nerves to fire and muscles to contract.
3. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The ANS acts as the invisible conductor of life, split into two complementary branches:
Part II: How we die – The path of cessation
Death is rarely a singular event; it is a progressive biological cascade. Whether caused by old age, chronic illness, or sudden trauma, the final pathways of mortality generally follow a predictable trajectory.
1. The cellular horizon: Senescence and Apoptosis
Every time a human cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of its chromosomes-telomeres-shorten. Eventually, telomeres become so depleted that the cell can no longer divide safely. It enters senescence (a state of permanent arrest) or triggers apoptosis (programmed cell death). This gradual, systemic loss of cellular renewal is the underlying engine of aging.
2. The clinical cascade of somatic death
When the body can no longer maintain homeostasis, somatic death (the death of the organism as a whole) begins. This occurs in a distinct sequence:
1
Clinical Death
Zero to four minutes
The heart stops pumping blood, and respiration ceases. While breathing and circulation have ended, the body’s tissues still contain residual oxygen and cellular energy reserves. At this stage, resuscitation is often still possible.
2
Brain Death (Infarction)
Four to six minutes
Deprived of fresh oxygenated blood, the brain’s highly sensitive neurons begin to starve. Lacking ATP, the brain cells lose their electrical charge, swell, and begin to burst. Permanent, irreversible neurological damage occurs within minutes.
3
Biological Death
Hours to days
The organs fail entirely. Without central control or blood flow, individual cells throughout the body consume their final energy reserves. Enzymes that once aided digestion begin to break down the body’s own tissues from the inside out, a process known as autolysis.
Part III: The modern collision of life and death
In the modern era, the boundary between how we live and how we die has blurred. Historically, humanity died primarily from infectious diseases and acute trauma. Today, global mortality is dominated by non-communicable, chronic lifestyle diseases.
Modern Pathology: How we live (the cause) how we die (the result)
Cardiovascular disease, chronic stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep keep the sympathetic nervous system hyper-activated, damaging blood vessels .Occlusion of coronary arteries leads to myocardial infarction (heart attack) or ischemic stroke.
Metabolic syndrome over nutrition and physical inactivity overwhelm cellular mitochondria, leading to systemic insulin resistance. Multi-organ failure, chronic kidney disease, and severe vascular complications.
Neurodegenerative Disorders Chronic systemic inflammation and sleep deprivation prevent the brain from clearing metabolic waste. Gradual loss of synaptic connections, leading to dementia and the eventual loss of basic autonomic functions.
Conclusion: The unified theory of health
Ultimately, how we live directly shapes the path of how we die. The micro-choices of daily existence-how we manage emotional stress, the quality of our rest, our communal connections, and our nutrition-either preserve the integrity of our homeostatic systems or accelerate their decline.
True medical advancement is shifting away from merely extending the final, frail stages of biological death. Instead, the focus is turning toward optimising our living years-ensuring that the intricate, beautiful machinery of human animation runs smoothly until its natural, quiet conclusion.
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
