The Minority Women’s Caucus in Parliament has given Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a one-month ultimatum to remove tall axes on sanitary pads contained in the 2023 budget.
The Caucus believes that sanitary pads are a fundamental necessity for the health and well-being of women and should be made affordable, especially for adolescent girls.
They argue that imposing import duties on these essential items is creating an undue burden, making them unaffordable for many, particularly those from low-income households, and stressed, “This is unacceptable and we say don’t tax our blood.”
In an address to the press on Wednesday, Comfort Doyoe, MP for Ada Constituency and Deputy Minority Whip for the NDC called for the removal of import duties and Value Added Tax (VAT) on sanitary pads.
She argued that the government should rather remove the taxes on the pads and reinstate the tollbooths since inadequate access to menstrual hygiene products can lead to school absenteeism and can force girls to resort to unhygienic alternatives or even miss out on education altogether.
Doyoe pointed to examples from other countries that have successfully implemented a free sanitary pad policy and others with zero tax on sanitary pad importation, including Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Botswana, and Nicaragua.
She proposed the government guarantee free sanitary pad distribution in low-income communities to alleviate the financial burden and empower women and girls in marginalized areas.
Doyoe called on stakeholders, policymakers, civil society organizations, and citizens to join forces in advocating for this necessary change.
“Let us ensure that every woman and girl in our country has unimpeded access to essential sanitary products, enabling them to live their lives with dignity and pursue their education without let or hindrance,” she said.
MP for Pusiga, Laadi Ayii Ayamba, urged the government to grant tax exemption to companies that import sanitary pads to make them cheaper.
She argued that many Ghanaian and foreign companies are granted tax waivers in Parliament almost every day that run into billions of cedis and indicated granting exemptions to bring in sanitary pads for Ghanaian women is a reasonable request.
Hon. Laadi urged women and advocates of the removal of the sanitary pads to be forceful in their demands and not to be timid because what they are asking for is a right and a matter of their health.
Representatives of market women and students who attended the press conference appealed to the government to introduce a policy to provide free sanitary pads to women with the use of the Ghana card for identification.
The Women’s Caucus called on stakeholders, policymakers, civil society organizations, and citizens to join forces in advocating for this necessary change.