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Policy analyst Sitsofe Mensah has linked Ghana’s declining public services to revenue lost through tax exemptions, arguing that waived taxes directly affect healthcare, education and infrastructure delivery.
According to Mensah, the term “tax waiver” often masks its real-world implications for citizens who rely on public services.
“When you hear ‘tax waiver,’ don’t think of economics,” he wrote. “Think of the incubator missing in your district hospital. Think of the textbooks your child never received.”
Mensah stated that taxes waived by Parliament represent funds that were legally owed to the state and budgeted for national development.
“That money existed,” he said. “It was owed to the state. It was waived away with a signature.”
He argued that the resulting funding gaps explain why essential services remain under-resourced despite consistent tax collection from consumers.
“The road that destroys your shock absorbers every month was not forgotten,” Mensah noted. “It was underfunded.”
Mensah also criticised the tendency to spiritualise economic hardship, especially during religious events at the end of the year.
“You cannot pray away a tax exemption signed in Parliament,” he wrote. “God provides the harvest; policy determines who eats.”
He concluded by urging citizens to shift from passive acceptance to political scrutiny, particularly of parliamentary voting records on tax exemptions.
“The prayer is yours,” Mensah stated. “But the receipt is theirs. Do not just say ‘Amen.’ Demand they show their hands.”
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