Speaker Bagbin criticizes Akufo-Addo for keeping taxes on sanitary pads

After the mid-year budget review was presented, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has criticized the government for not eliminating the tariffs on sanitary pads.

The Speaker had previously encouraged the administration to use the mid-year budget review to eliminate the levies on sanitary napkins, but this was not included in the Finance Minister’s presentation on Monday.

When Alex Tetteh Djornobuah, the member of parliament for Sefwi Akontombra, attempted to defend the implementation of the taxes during his discussion, Alban Bagbin responded to the situation on the floor of the legislature.

“On the issue of sanitary pads, the government should rethink about it. Because the taxes are not only imported ones, even the locally produced ones are taxed. The businesses met me two days ago, [and told me that] even the raw materials are taxed. They were complaining about production, to the extent that some of them folded up. This is something that I take seriously. Don’t let us miss the point, I will not tax a woman, my mother for producing me. I don’t support that at all, so the state must take this matter seriously.”

“There are countries where it is for free, there are countries where a lot of taxes have been removed. That is an issue I’m very passionate about, to all governments that will come, we can do without it. How much do we make from this taxation? We like taxing the poor, we are not taxing the rich”.

The governement has been urged by many parties to eliminate the levies on sanitary pads.