The Gambian parliamentarian stated his concern about the snag in levy payment during the second ordinary session of ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.
According to Hon. Barrow, there is again lack of information flow from the ministries of Finance to the central banks of the various member states.
During the budget meeting in the ongoing second ordinary session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Chairman Barrow stated: “Transferring collection of levies is becoming problematic and from the discussions and views of lawmakers, colleagues from Cape Verde have done some collection but transferring is problematic.”
He said the delay in payment of community levies could be addressed with effective coordination, adding that member states should not default by allowing their levies to accumulate, “as it becomes difficult to pay.”
He said that most of the member states having issues with regard to payment of their community levies should go into agreement with the communities to come out with a payment plan.
When it comes to preparation of country reports, where the issue of payment of community levies would come out, Hon. Barrow noted, country representatives should be able to get their status reports from their Finance ministries.
“Again, the whole thing is how sure are we that the deductions are done, and if they are not done and the funds are there, why is it difficult for you to do any transfer?” he asked.
On whether community lawmakers should get involved with the whole process of payment of community levies, as the issue comes up twice a year, Hon. Barrow said:“It’s very important the parliament gets involved, as part of their oversight role to take up this issue. And it’s the same budget they need to undertake their oversight trips and embark on sensitization programs.”
In addition, the former Majority Leader pointed out that The Gambia is one of the few countries that do not owe Community levy, saying that any time they as a delegation get back to their country they check to ensure that the funds are transferred to ECOWAS.
He also pointed out that ECOWAS citizens should know what the institution is doing especially as regards funds.
“We saw the integration process going on, but the fact is people need to know what we are doing,” he said, adding: “We can only do that when we have time with the regional integration ministries to be able to highlight their programs.
“Now that the budget is with us we need to do an annual conference in our respective countries to give a rundown of some of the activities that are going to be held in 2023.”
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