Ranking Member on Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has warned private sector partners involved in the government’s fiscal electronic devices project that they do not yet have parliamentary cover for the transaction.The Ofoase Ayirebi MP said Parliament has not approved any specific company, contract amount or implementation schedule for the project, describing the approval being sought by government as a “blank cheque”.Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the Minority was not against the rollout of fiscal electronic devices but objected to Parliament being asked to approve a multi-year commitment without critical details.He explained that the project was originally introduced under the Taxation Fiscal Electronic Devices Act passed in 2018 to automate VAT collection at points of sale.According to him, government’s request for multi-year approval did not provide enough information for Parliament to make an informed decision.“They didn’t state how much the project will cost? How many years this multi-year approval is for? Who is the contractor? And number four, what is the year-by-year fiscal impact?” he said.Mr Oppong Nkrumah said approving the request without those details would amount to giving government unrestricted authority over a major financial commitment.“That was the point that we were trying to make to Mr Speaker: that if we give this approval without this information, it’s a blank cheque that has been given to the government, and no government, whether the NPP or NDC government, should be given such a blank cheque,” he stated.He said the Minority made it clear that it supported the fiscal electronic devices initiative but could not endorse a transaction without full disclosure.“We are not opposed to the fiscal electronic devices project. We are opposed to the fact that Parliament is giving them a blank cheque on a multi-year commitment,” he said.Mr Oppong Nkrumah added that the Minority had raised concerns about other transactions brought before Parliament, including taxation proposals affecting international commerce platforms.He said taxing services such as Netflix and Starlink could create issues of double taxation because users may already be paying taxes in other jurisdictions.“We explained to them in detail that people are already paying taxes on these products, wherever they are buying them from. These products and services. If you tax them again in the Ghanaian jurisdiction, that is double taxation,” he said.The former Information Minister also said the Minority would use the Right to Information Act to request details of contracts and schedules relating to the transactions.“We have served notice that we’re going to come under RTI rules to request for copies of whatever contracts, schedules, etc. which they have already, they are just not disclosing it to Parliament,” he said.He warned private companies that any reliance on the current approval process was at their own risk.“We are serving notice that they don’t have parliamentary cover. What has been given them is just a blank cheque. And so, if you think that this blank cheque gives you parliamentary cover, you don’t have parliamentary cover. You deal with them at your own risk,” he stated.Mr Oppong Nkrumah insisted that Parliament had not approved any company, amount or schedule for the project.“So Parliament has not approved any company, has not approved any amount, has not approved any such schedule,” he said.He added that private partners must ensure proper parliamentary approval is secured before proceeding with the transaction.