I am guilty, I joined Nana Akufo-Addo to protest against VAT

Famed journalist and political commentator Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said that he is guilty that he joined Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and others in 1995 to oppose the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) by the then National Democratic Congress(NDC) Government only for  Nana Akufo-Addo to increase it now as President of the country.

Speaking on Pan African TV monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Mr Pratt Jnr wondered why a tax that was opposed to by people in opposition is not only being implemented by them in power but the tax is being increased while all sorts of unconvincing justifications are thrown about.

“I have a sense of guilt. I have a huge sense of guilt. And why do I have a huge sense of guilt? In this country in 1995, I joined Nana Akufo-Addo[now President Nana Akufo-Addo]… and we waged a very successful campaign against the introduction of the Value Added Tax(VAT). One of the arguments we put out then was that VAT was a regressive tax. Has VAT all of a sudden become a progressive tax? Is VAT no longer a regressive tax?

Today some of us have the opportunity to be in government to implement the very ideas against which we mobilised people onto the streets and people died. After increasing VAT, how do we look into the eyes of the family of Ahudu Honga[ who died in a demonstration against VAT] and feel good about ourselves?” He asked.

He added that the very ideas, like the increment in petrol prices, that were strongly opposed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and his colleagues are being implemented by them in power.

In 1995, Mr Pratt Jnr, then a member of Alliance for Change, was key in the organization and execution of the Kume Preko anti-government demonstration against the VAT. They lamented then that the tax was going to worsen the hardship of Ghanaians.