Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, says government would have no option but to rely on the proposed Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) to enforce an evacuation of Ghanaians stranded in Ukraine.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calls have intensified for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Interior and Finance to work together to take urgent steps to ensure the safety of Ghanaian students in Ukraine.
Addressing the House on Thursday, Afenyo-Markin, noted that evacuating Ghanaians will come at a cost, affecting the limited resources government has generated.
The Deputy Majority Leader has therefore urged the Minority in Parliament to support the passage of the E-levy to ensure government has the needed resources to invoke swift evacuation response.
He indicated further that it is imperative for the country to be able to save its nationals as no other country would evacuate them.
He said: “The call to evacuate Ghanaian citizens from Ukraine will come at a cost. No European country will evacuate our citizens for us. America will not do that. There is going to be pressure on the limited resources that we have… Of course, Deputy Minority Leader, you have not spoken into the microphone, but if you are talking about E-levy, this is the more important reason why we even need it.”
“If you were talking about the E-levy, that was the next point I was going to get to. That we should congregate around it and find a way of generating revenue as a country to save the situation because we are not in normal times.”
