Claim: President Mahama says COVID levy can’t be removed without IMF permission
Source: Ghana Today & Frank Annoh-Dompreh, MP Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Verdict: Misleading
Researched by Samuel Nii Adjetey
A Ghana Today flyer with a quote, “Covid tax is an IMF tax, we can’t remove it without IMF Permission,” being attributed to President John Dramani Mahama, has gained traction on social media platforms, including X, Facebook, and TikTok.
Among the top amplifiers of the flyer, which claims the president had backtracked on a promise to abolish the COVID levy, is the Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who shared the post on X with a caption that read: “Governance.”
His post had garnered the following engagement statistics:
RelatedNews
| Views | Reposts | Likes | Comments | Bookmarks |
| 166,300 | 313 | 2,600 | 358 | 48 |
Background
President Mahama delivered a speech on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, outlining the progress of his government’s 120-day social contract with Ghanaians, and among the key issues discussed was public concern over the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, a tax introduced in 2021 to support pandemic recovery efforts.
During his campaign leading up to the 2024 general elections, President Mahama promised to abolish the levy if elected, calling it an ‘unnecessary burden’. However, in his recent address, he explained the delay in removing the tax.
This fact-check will verify:
- Whether the President described the COVID levy as an IMF tax.
- Whether he said it cannot be removed without IMF permission.
Fact-check
Speaking on the 120-day social contract and highlighting the state of the COVID-19 levy, President Mahama explained that;
“To alleviate hardships and ease the high cost of doing business, I promised to scrap the E-levy, COVID levy, 10% levy on bet winnings, and the Emissions levy within my first 90 days. These tax and expenditure measures were central to our 2025 Budget Statement.
“On April 2, 2025, I signed several bills into law, including the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-LEVY) Repeal Bill 2025, the Emissions Levy Repeal Bill, and the Betting Tax,” he said.
“We have delivered on three of these four specific tax repeals as promised. The COVID levy has intricate linkages to the existing IMF programme. As a value-added tax, we have agreed with our multilateral partners to include it in our overall VAT rationalisation exercise scheduled for September of this year,” he added.
Based on the above, although President Mahama acknowledged that the COVID-19 levy ‘has linkages with the IMF programme’, he did not say that “Covid tax is an IMF tax.”
He also did not single out the IMF in plans to scrap the levy later this year. He said Ghana was in talks with multilateral partners (i.e. IMF and others) to undertake a rationalization of the current Value Added Tax regime, which would lead to the eventual scrapping of the COVID Levy.
His comment does not also mean he has backtracked on his earlier promise to abolish the tax handle.
Verdict
Therefore, the claim attributed to President John Mahama is misleading.
