Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin has described the imposition of taxes on sanitary pads as a cardinal sin.
According to him, it is conscienceless for the House of Parliament to pass a law to impose a tax on sanitary pads.
“Why should we as members of this House pass a law imposing a tax on sanitary pads? This is unconscionable. It is a cardinal sin. This House shouldn’t have allowed it all.”
“You know the impact of that law on the human resource development and the development of this country is immeasurable,” he said.
He warned the sanitary pad tax should not appear in the next budget of the government as he takes a very serious view on the matter.
The Speaker’s comment follows a statement read by Minority Chief Whip Kwame Agbodza on Wednesday’s flood in parts of Accra and reports of a woman and her two children being carried away by the flood water in the Ngleshie-Amanfrom constituency.
The Speaker indicated he has received a petition from interest groups on the tax and urged the House to take action to prevent the Minister who proposed the pad tax to take it off.
Meanwhile, a group of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) stormed Parliament to demand the removal of taxes on sanitary pads.
Their demand follows a claim by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) that any policy measure by the government that seeks to remove taxes on imported sanitary pads at the expense of local manufacturers will be very detrimental to the economy.
It said much as the waiver of duties or taxes on imported sanitary pads for young women to make the pads more affordable may sound good, it would only end up completely wiping out the few local sanitary pad factories left in the country.
The comments have, however, incurred the wrath of a section of the populace culminating in the CSOs marching through some principal streets of Accra to demand the removal of the taxes.
According to the group led by Maame Ama Pratt, the 12.5 percent VAT and the 20 percent import tax imposed on sanitary pads have increased the prices of the item.
Speaking moments after presenting a petition to Parliament, she said the move has made it impossible for women to afford them.
Ama Pratt also added that they will not relent in their efforts to have the taxes scrapped by the government.