Founder of the Liberal Party Ghana (LPG) Kofi Akpaloo has defended the government on its newly introduced tax on betting.

Speaking in an interview, he said the tax is a necessary measure since the government needs revenue to run the country.

He further asserted that once individuals earn from betting, then that constitutes an occupation and needs to be taxed.

“We need money to run the economy and betting is a chosen occupation for some people. Every occupation is an occupation. Betting is an occupation. Once that's what people have chosen to get money from, it’s an occupation,” he justified his comment.

“Once you stake the bet and win, you need to give the government its commission,” he added.

Mr Akplaoo was making the comment on the back of the government's introduction of the tax on betting.

The 10% levy slapped on earnings from betting received heavy backlash from the public domain. Regardless, the government ignored the calls for the tax to be withdrawn and implemented it.

There have been various justifications for the move, with one coming from Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who states that betting encourages laziness. Therefore, implementing the tax on it aims to discourage laziness.

Nevertheless, the youth stand firmly by their viewpoint. They argue that the government has not generated sufficient employment opportunities to assert that betting leads to laziness.

Speaking on the development, Mr Akpaloo noted that sensitisation has been low.

“Education on the tax policy is low and the matter has been politicized and so people are not aware of the truth regarding the matter,” he added.