Stephen Amoah is the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso
The Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Stephen Amoah, has strongly defended his colleague, the former Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, in response to claims that the former government never implemented the Betting Tax.
Addressing the subject on JoyNews, Amoah stated that Amin, like any human, is bound to make mistakes and had no intention of deliberately misleading the public.
He emphasised that while his colleague, Amin, is not perfect, his error should not be something for which he should be crucified by the general public, adding that it is not in the nature of the former minister to tell lies.
“If what my minister said contradicts research put into the public domain, which I have no reason to doubt, we should also take it from the angle that he is a human being and can make a mistake. People shouldn’t take it like he wants to intentionally deceive people. Amin is not that type, just get close to him. I’m not saying he is perfect,” he said.
Amoah also shared his disapproval of the criticisms chastising Ghanaians for dwelling on negativities and trivialities instead on rather focusing on the positive achievements of the former minister.
He indicated that Amin’s accomplishments, such as reviving the economy, securing funds from the IMF, and managing the challenges left by his predecessor, Ken Ofori-Atta, should be the central focus.
He argued that these achievements deserve praise, rather than focusing on his mistakes.
“Surprisingly, why can’t we also applaud him for leading the team that continued Ken Ofori-Atta’s work for us to have one of the swiftest, fastest and most accuracy with which he was able to hold this economy, ensure the fiscal space was properly curtailed, consolidated and met almost all the indicative targets to get approval and get billions of dollars because we could stock to the agreement we had with the IMF and be very disciplined. That one we will not talk about it,” he shared his frustration.
Amoah maintained his defense, reiterating that the blunder made by the former minister was not an issue that should have even been discussed, nor something for which he should have been crucified.
“… It could have been a mistake and so if someone does something 98% correct and 2% mistake, does it mean the person has to be crucified because we live in Ghana? I’m not saying people shouldn’t talk about it but please even if it’s a mistake, he is a human being. Who doesn’t make mistakes?” he concluded.
His support comes in the wake of public backlash against Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, the former Minister of Finance after he claimed that the NPP never implemented nor collected the controversial Betting Tax.
Amin Adam made this statement to counter the government’s announcement of the abolishment of certain nuisance taxes, questioning how a tax that was never implemented could be canceled.
However, his claim backfired when the youth presented receipts of bet slips showing that their bet wins were, indeed, taxed at 10% by the government.
MAG/AE
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