E-Levy Taxes, The Final Straw!

The government of Ghana is doing what governments do best, extorting its citizens. Barely one year after adding a “flu” tax to our litany of taxes, parliament is poised to pass an E-levy tax, effectively taxing transfers from my digital wallet to my dependents, suppliers, and/or service providers.  Transfers that are completely free in the free-world, are to be taxed twice here in Ghana. Once by the ominous telecom and once again by our government. Apparently, one of our highly educated, elected servants had a brainstorm, out of which was born this scheme to create a billion dollar stream out of thin air!  It appears that when he shared this dream, his cohorts eagerly sipped from the chalice and became drunk with anticipation of their new revenue stream, losing all manner of decorum, which led to the debacle we witnessed in parliament.  To add insult to injury, they offered to stop collecting tolls on the highway, and in fact abandoned the toll booths, hoping we, the people would not notice they were taking out a finger and ramming their whole arm in its place.

I’ll be the first to admit, as a business owner, mobile money makes doing business much easier, but its not the only solution.  Apps like Zelle and CashApp facilitate the transfer of funds seamlessly and freely in equally advanced countries. If Uber can work in a country with virtually no street signs, certainly we can employ the likes of CashApp. Momo (mobile money transfer) is a dinosaur in its industry and is overdue for a disruption.

In the meantime, at Earth Seed we are making it easy for our customers to resist this money grab.  Going forward our customers have the following options:

1. C.O.D. Cash on delivery has always been an option, but lately we’ve insisted on prepaid orders in an effort to streamline the process. Now we’re reinstating a cash on delivery option for our regular customers.
2. Check. Yep, you can write a check, just spell our name right. Earth Seed, Ltd. (2 separate words.)
3. Bitcoin. Our website now gives you the option to pay in bitcoin. We strongly believe that fiat currencies are a thing of the past and digital currency a thing of the future so this is in preparation for that.
4. Barter. The oldest form of trade is the bartering system and though it may not be an easy fit for most our customers, there are those whom we buy from, so the synergy already exist. Again, our goal here is to present all viable alternatives, reminding ourselves and our customers that we are only limited by our self-imposed boundaries.
5. Mobile Money. Momo is still an option. We’re realist, not extremist.  We don’t want to impose measures on you that will make your experience with us any less enjoyable, but we are gradually migrating away from any platforms that leave us at the behest of our government’s whims, towards platforms that restore our privacy, ownership and overall sovereignty.
6. Credit & Debit cards. By far, the eldest dinosaurs in the room and, in part, the motivator behind alternatives like Bitcoin, but still very relevant. Until our collective ingenuity relegates them to the past, we will continue to accept credit and debit cards.

Just as a Board of Directors makes the company accountable to its investors, we the people must make our government accountable to us, the Nation.  We cannot afford to acquiesce on matters such as these, trading our sovereignty for convenience. Starve the beast and he will surely die.