The Minority Caucus in Parliament has rejected the government’s multi-year commitment to support the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) rollout of the Fiscal Electronic Device (FED) policy, describing the arrangement as a dangerous “blank cheque” that lacks transparency and could expose taxpayers to significant financial risks.
The Minority’s opposition comes after Parliament approved the transaction to facilitate the deployment of 40,000 Fiscal Electronic Devices as part of efforts to strengthen Value Added Tax (VAT) collection and modernise revenue administration.
The opposition caucus raised concerns over what it describes as a lack of critical information about the project, including the total cost, cost per device, duration of the agreement, identity of the service provider and the financial obligations of taxpayers.
Also read: Parliament gives green light to GRA’s Fiscal Electronic Device policy to boost VAT revenue
Addressing the media in Parliament after the approval on Tuesday, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the Minority is not opposed to the digitalisation of revenue collection.
The objection, he said, is based primarily on the government’s failure to provide sufficient information to enable Parliament to scrutinise the transaction properly.
According to the former Minister for Information, Parliament should have access to details of the proposed contractor, the cost of each Fiscal Electronic Device and the duration and terms of the multi-year agreement before approving.
According to him, approving the transaction without such information is fiscally irresponsible and raised questions about the extent of Parliament’s oversight of the deal.
Minority threatens RTI
Mr Oppong Nkrumah disclosed that the Minority would use the Right to Information (RTI) framework to demand access to the underlying contract and scrutinise the terms of the agreement.
“We will be filing the necessary RTI requests to demand copies of the underlying contract eventually and to scrutinise the terms and the fiscal implications it has for all taxpayers,” he warned.
The concerns were echoed by the Member of Parliament for Tano North, Dr Gideon Boako, who questioned the financial implications of the Fiscal Electronic Device policy and who would ultimately bear the cost of procuring and maintaining the devices.
Dr Boako said Parliament has not been given sufficient information about the cost of each device.
“As we speak, how much each of the devices costs, nobody knows. In the memorandum, they say it is a taxpayer,” he said.
He noted that subsequent explanations from officials suggested that the government could initially bear the cost before applying depreciation to taxpayers, a situation he described as unclear and potentially costly.
The Tano North MP also raised questions about the duration of the multi-year agreement, arguing that the term should be clearly defined rather than simply described as “multi-year”.
He further demanded clarity on who would be responsible for maintaining or replacing faulty devices and how much such repairs or replacements would cost.
“We are asking these questions not because we just want to oppose government programmes,” he explained.
“We feel that, acting on behalf of the people who voted us into this office, we need to make sure the government does not enter into any agreement that will impose huge costs on the Ghanaian people already. We don’t have money in the system.”
Further scrutiny
The Minority Caucus served notice that it will continue to scrutinise the Fiscal Electronic Device agreement through available legal and parliamentary channels.
The caucus maintains that greater transparency is needed to determine the financial implications of the GRA fiscal device project and protect taxpayers from potentially excessive long-term obligations.
The Fiscal Electronic Device policy is part of the government’s broader efforts to modernise VAT administration, improve tax compliance and reduce revenue leakages.