Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated his promise to incentivize churches and faith-based organizations (FBOs), justifying it as a logical move to support local development partners.
Speaking during an engagement with the clergy in the North East Region, Dr. Bawumia argued that the contributions of churches and FBOs to Ghana’s development cannot be overstated. “Look at the number of hospitals the churches have built, look at the number of universities the churches have built… Can you imagine if all the schools and universities the churches have built disappear? How will Ghana be like?” he asked rhetorically.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized that Ghana would be severely impacted if churches and FBOs were to withdraw their services, stating, “Ghana will collapse. We will not survive in this sort of situation because there will be chaos.”
Clarifying his promise, Dr. Bawumia explained that the incentives are not meant to pay churches but to support them in their development efforts. He questioned why Ghanaians support incentives for international development partners but not local ones like churches and FBOs.
“When we talk about our external development partners, we have given them all sorts of exemptions. But when we talk about our internal development partners like the Churches and faith-based institutions, we don’t give them any exemptions, but they do more in terms of development than many of our external development partners,” he noted.
Dr. Bawumia suggested tax exemptions on import duties for churches and FBOs building hospitals and schools as a form of incentive, saying, “We should do more in the area of incentives… to support the churches and other faith-based organizations because they are supporting government.”
