President John Dramani Mahama has officially signed the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Repeal Act, 2025 into law, effectively abolishing the levy that was introduced to support the country’s pandemic-related expenditures.
President Dramani Mahama signed the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Repeal Act, 2025, fulfilling his pledge to abolish the 1% levy imposed after the pandemic.
Before appending his signature, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, President Mahama said Ghana had remained one of the few countries still taxing citizens for a pandemic that had ended, describing the repeal as “promise made, promise delivered.”
He criticised the continuation of the levy despite earlier assurances of free water, electricity and food during COVID-19, and said he was pleased to finally remove a tax many Ghanaians opposed as he prepared to forward the Act to the Clerk of Parliament.
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“This is the COVID Health Recovery Levy Repeal Act 2025. And it’s my honour and privilege to sign, to repeal the COVID levy. Promise made, promise delivered. And today is the 10th of December, 2025. Signed. Purported to provide free water, free electricity, free food, and a lot of things, and to the shock of most Ghanaians, after the pandemic was over, and after the elections were over, government slapped Ghanaians with a 1% value added tax, ostensibly to recover what its supposed to have spent on the COVID pandemic. Ghana continued to remain one of the only countries where were being taxed for a pandemic that had passed. And so during the election, we promised that when the NDC comes to power, the COVID levy is one of those to repeal. A lot of Ghanaians have disliked this tax. And today, I’m pleased that on the 10th of December, 2025, I’ve signed the repeal act to remove the 1% COVID levy. And I will present it to the Clerk of Parliament.” President Mahama said.
