Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says his suggestion that churches should be paid by the state was in jest.
Speaking at a meeting with the clergy in North East Region, Dr. Bawumia clarified that his comment sought to emphasize the critical role the church and other faith-based organizations play in the development of the country and not a push for them to be paid.
“I was joking and I said ‘oh, people are talking about taxing churches. I don’t believe and we will not tax churches because if you look at the work the churches have done then I was joking and then I said maybe we should have actually paid them for what they did not trying to tax them,” he stated.
This follows public’s reservations about his comment.
At a meeting with the clergy during his tour of the Bono Region, Dr. Bawumia kicked against proposals for churches to be taxed, arguing that such religious establishments should rather be paid for their contributions towards the development of the country.
But clarifying this comment in a subsequent meeting with the clergy in the North East Region, the Vice-President said he made the comment in jest.
“I wasn’t really saying we should pay churches. No! I’m saying that we should give incentives to churches to do more”.
He, however, maintained the church plays a crucial role in the development of the nation and should be incentivized to do more.
