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Thu, 09 May 2024 Feature Article

E-VAT fiasco: Should leaders of Ghana's public institutions be more creative in resolving challenges?

Kofi Thompson
E-VAT fiasco: Should leaders of Ghana's public institutions be more creative in resolving challenges?
09 MAY 2024 LISTEN

Dear critical-reader, on the subject of the E-VAT fiasco, the question that wise and aspirational Africans keen to see the rapid transformation of their resource-rich but poorly led country, into a prosperous society that benefits all demographics equitably ought to ponder over is: Should those who lead Ghana's key public nation-building institutions not be a tad more creative in resolving the rolling-challenges they face as leaders?

In light of that, it is vital that a creative way is quickly found, via smartphone apps, for example, to make compliance with this vital tax ubiquitous countrywide - to the extent that taflatst3 even uneducated market women and the truck pushers who serve them in markets across the entirety of the sovereign territorial landmass of our bankrupted Republic, can effortless pay E-VAT from their mobile money wallets, oooo, Ghanafuor. Haaba.

Surely, were the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and all the telcos (who think nothing of spending zillions on promotions to increase subscriber-numbers but spend zilch on improving the reliability of their sodden networks and getting away with same nonetheless), to club together, to offer developers in Ghana's tech-ecosystem, a cash prize of GHc1 million for the winner of a well publicised competition (with the more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media offering free advertising space as their nation-building widow's mite contribution, lol), to develop such a user-friendly E-VAT app, an eminently suitable one, would swiftly emerge? No? Haaba.

Dear critical-reader, in view of all the above, surely the time has now come for wise and aspirational Africans, such as the good people of Ghana, to perhaps start demanding vociferously, that those amongst their hard-of-hearing ruling elites, who head key public institutions in their homeland Ghana (who incidentally are all generously compensated by the way), to be a tad more creative, in their approach to resolving rolling-challenges that impede the work of the pivotal publicly-owned organisations that they lead, anaaa, Ghanafuor? Haaba.

In the AI-bedrocked eras of the 4th, 5th and 6th industrial revolutions, surely, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that a creative way can be found, via smartphone apps, for example, to make compliance with this critical E-VAT, ubiquitous countrywide - and thereby widen the tax net to the extent that taflatst3, even uneducated tro-tro bus drivers and their mates, taxi drivers, as well as uneducated okada riders across the entirety of the sovereign territorial landmass of our bankrupted Republic, can effortless pay this all-important revenue raising E-VAT from their mobile money wallets? Haaba. Hmmm, 3y3nsem piiii, oooo, Ghanafuor, lol. Yooooooo...

Finally, at the risk of sounding like a broken vinyl record, lol, dear critical-reader, has the time not now definitely come for wise and aspirational Africans, such as the hapless put-on ordinary people of Ghana, whose lives have been turned upside-down by an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, and rolling power outages (that could also be equally resolved quickly by offering local inventors a GHc1 million compitition prize for a global energy sector game-changing off-grid emission-free clean power system that is cheaper per kilowatt hour than even nuclear and hydropower, and which never goes off regardless of prevailing weather conditions, lol, if our hard-of-hearing ruling elites were creative thinkers), to perhaps finally start demanding vociferously, in peaceful and well organised nationwide street demonstrations, conveniently planned on dates suitable and convenient for the Ghana Police to make its underpaid and poorly-resourced personnel available to protect them from the wiles and fury of criticism-averse politrickcians, lol, to drum it into the heads of those amongst their country's hard-of-hearing ruling elites, who head key public institutions in their homeland Ghana (who incidentally are all generously compensated, by the way, let us not forget, lol), that to justify their overly-generous compensation packages, going forward into the future, they ought to be a tad more creative in their approach to resolving rolling-challenges that impede the work of the pivotal publicly-owned organisations that they lead, anaaa, Ghanafuor? No? Haaba. Yoooooooo. A word to the wise...

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