By Gifty Boateng
The 0.75% fee on mobile money wallet-to-bank transfers, suspended within 24 hours of public outcry, has exposed a paper trail that leads back to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) under former governor Ernest Addison and to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) which now sits in opposition.
Isaac Adongo, Bolga Central MP and a current member of the BoG board, waved a letter on the floor of parliament dated 31 January 2024. The document, signed by the Addison-led central bank, grants MTN “no objection” to impose two fees: a 1% charge on cash-outs below GHS 2,000, and a 0.75% fee (capped at GHS 55) for wallet-to-bank transfers.
“NDC was not in power in January 2024,” Adongo reminded colleagues. His point: the approval was entirely an NPP-era decision.
What remains unexplained is why the fee lay dormant for over two years, only to resurface with a proposed implementation date of 1 June 2026. MTN alerted subscribers on 25 May. The next day, BoG now under NDC administration ordered Mobile Money Fintech Limited (MMFL) to suspend the charge “pending further consultations”.
The minority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, immediately accused the John Mahama government of reintroducing the e-levy “through the backdoor”, using MMFL as a vehicle. He demanded the finance minister appear before parliament.
Adongo’s rebuttal was blistering. “The leader of the minority does not know that levies are imposed only by this house, not by a letter from some organisation,” he said. He noted that the NDC had abolished the e-levy and brought no such tax to parliament.
Adongo urged the NPP minority to hold another press conference this time to retract. “Deception and falsehood have no place in our governance,” he said. He pointed to the economic rebound under Mahama: “They no longer buy a bag of beans for 1,000 cedis but 300.”
The affair leaves a curious stain. A fee approved by the NPP’s own central bank, delayed for unknown reasons, then weaponised against the government that inherited it. The minority’s press conference may have fired too soon and missed the target entirely.