Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina constituency, Francis Xavier Sosu, has challenged high-profile women in the country to support and speak out on the removal of the tax on sanitary pads to create a groundswell of advocacy that will encourage MPs to accept the tax removal proposal.
The lawmaker who recently championed the Criminal Offences Amendment Act 2022, which replaced the death penalty with a life sentence, has once again taken it upon himself to push for an amendment of the Customs Tariffs and Levies to remove the 15% VAT Act, 2022 (Act 1082), to reclassify menstrual hygiene products from final consumer goods to zero-rated essential social goods.
This has left the group of civil society organisations throwing their weight behind the Member of Parliament for Madina to achieve his goal.
The bill, when amended, will see a significant reduction in the price of sanitary pads, which has raised several concerns from civil society organisations in the past few months.
According to the lawyer, Ghana is not alone in considering the removal of taxes on sanitary pads.
Many countries around the world have already taken this step to ensure that women have access to affordable menstrual hygiene products.
He has therefore urged women stakeholders and prominent figures such as queen mothers, lady pastors, female teachers, and female journalists to support the removal of the tax on sanitary pads to create a groundswell of advocacy that will encourage MPs to accept the tax removal proposal.
