By Razak Baba
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. John Kumah says the Government will intensify efforts to increase the country’s tax capacity by making the tax administration work more efficiently and by broadening the tax base.
He emphasized that no country has ever attained sustainable development by depending on aid and not putting in efforts to improve domestic tax revenue mobilisation.
Mr. Kumah was speaking at the inauguration of the Ashanti Region Youth Parliament in Kumasi.
The world over, youth groups often play a very critical role in the socio-economic and political dispensation of many countries of which Ghana is no exception.
One of such youth groups making waves in Ghana is Youth Parliament.
The National Youth Parliament concept in Ghana is to provide a single formalized youth structure at the district, regional and national levels for the youth to air their frustrations, deliberate on matters of importance to youth development, and hold duty bearers accountable.
The idea is geared towards preparing the youth for future leadership.
The Ashanti Region Youth Parliament draws its members from the various registered youth groups in the region as well as interested individuals and students.
It is run by its leadership under the guidance of the Regional Director of the National Youth Authority with the support of Parliamentarians.
Speaking at its inauguration in Kumasi under the theme, “The Ghanaian Taxation Systems and the Sustainability of her Development”, the Regional Director of the NYA, Mr. George Orwell Amponsah said as an advocacy and not a pressure group as it is often perceived, the Youth Parliament seeks to champion the cause of the youth and operates as a non-religious, non-partisan and non-ethnic group.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NYA, Pius Enam Hadzide urged the Youth Parliament to engage in a constructive manner around Ghana’s common challenges and prospects as young people.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah cautioned that the banter in Parliament against the approval of the Electronic Transfer Levy or E-Levy Bill does not augur well for national development.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. John Kumah made a case for the implementation of the E-Levy Bill.
