The New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has clarified that his remarks about incentivizing churches for developmental projects were made in jest, not as a serious policy proposal.
Speaking to clergy members in the North East Region during his nationwide tour, the Vice President emphasized that his comments may have been misunderstood and were intended to recognize the significant contributions of churches and faith-based institutions to the country’s development, including the construction of schools and hospitals.
“Look at the number of hospitals the churches have built. Look at the number of universities the churches have built and the faith-based organizations have built. Look at the number of people the churches and faith-based organizations take care of on a daily basis. Can you imagine, just take a thought for a moment that you wake up tomorrow and all the schools, universities and hospitals the churches have built disappear. They just disappear. How would Ghana be like? Ghana will collapse. Isn’t it? We will not survive in this sort of situation because there will be chaos.
“So at that point I was joking and I said, oh…people are talking about taxing churches. I don’t believe, and we will not tax churches. Because if you look at the work the churches have done, then I was joking then, maybe we should have actually paid them for what they did, not really trying to tax them. But I wasn’t really saying we should pay churches, no. I am saying that we should give incentives to churches to do more.”
The statement about incentivizing churches was allegedly made during a meeting with the clergy in the Bono East region on May 10.
At the gathering, the NPP’s flagbearer emphasized the substantial contributions of churches to society, including the construction of schools, hospitals, and other essential infrastructure.
He stated, “I don’t see and I will not have a situation where we are taxing churches,” highlighting his reluctance to impose taxes on religious institutions.
“We will rather want to give churches incentives to support what the government is doing. I want us to be partners in the way that the development partners are with us. You are our domestic development partners and we will give you incentives to do more.”