Executive Director of Revenue Mobilisation Africa, Mr. Joffery Kabutey Ocanseh, says the decision to reintroduce the road tolls was good, but it must be implemented differently.
Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam announced on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, that the government plans to reintroduce road and bridge tolls in 2025.
He announced this during the presentation of the 2024 mid-year fiscal policy review in Parliament on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
The Minister explained that the reintroduction of tolls is part of a comprehensive strategy to enhance infrastructure funding and management and to also help generate additional revenue to support the maintenance and development of the country’s road network.
Mr. Ocansey, responding to the issue, indicated that he had since 2020 advocated for the road tolls to be added to the function of the Driver and Vehicular Licensing Authority (DVLA).
He stated that the road tolls had become regressive, with the underprivileged who pay more.
He said some individuals with luxury vehicles were not paying road tolls because they don’t ply the highway and other locationsnwith toll booths, but those who are deprived and use the locations where they ply all the time are forced to pay the road tolls.
“That is why I proposed that the implementation be handed over to the DVLA so that every Ghanaian is required to pay road tolls. We also have a luxury tax system, which requires persons who own luxury vehicles to pay certain taxes. Those who own Bentleys and other premium vehicles must pay certain taxes. Then we would devise a system for those who own saloon cars and commercial vehicles to pay some type of tax. They shouldn’t pay the same amount. It should be depending on the sort of vehicle you own.
This strategy, he said, can be implemented by using the Ghanaian card details and the driving license of Ghanaians to collect these taxes.
“When you deploy the digitised system, you can use my car number and Ghana card details to make the payments. These are some of the suggestions we gave them severely years ago. The retroduction of the road tolls is perfect, but don’t mount barriers on our roads to collect them. Give that job to the DVLA to manage.”
By: Rainbowradiooline.com/Ghana