The Member of Parliament for the Abetifi constituency, Bryan Acheampong, has charged Ghanaians to pay tax to enable the government to deliver on its mandate.

Speaking to Citi News at the 20th graduation of the Methodist University in Accra, the former minister of National Security at the office of the president explained that, “if the government decides to print more money to fund its activities, the money in your pocket will be worthless.”

He believes the cycle of an economy requires that citizens pay their taxes because the government runs a controlled market.

According to him, it behoves on citizens to pay taxes for the government to fulfil its side of the bargain.

“Pay your taxes and demand from the government the services that we require”.

On the issue of the 2.5% increment on Value Added Tax in the 2023 budget, he noted that, that will be discussed in Parliament including the E-levy and the final decision will eventually be in the interest of the citizenry.

“If the government says A, expect the opposition to say B. If the government says there should be no taxes today, the opposition will come and say that it’s a bad policy and there should be taxes. At the end of the day, it’s the will of the people through their MPs that will stand and not that of the opposition or the NPP.”

Speaking on the issues of security, he said “the country’s security is normal” and Ghanaians should sleep soundly.

“In terms of crime, the numbers are going down compared to 2021 and the years before. The security agencies are doing extraordinarily well.”

He added that he is confident in the country’s democracy and peace despite the economic hardships.