A group calling itself the Social Justice Movement, (SJM) has called on the government to as a matter of urgency reverse its decision to ensure that parents who do not register with the Taxpayer Identification Number, (TIN) children would be denied from benefiting from the Free Senior High School SHS programme.
The Movement made the call in press release issued and signed by the Convenors, Richard Asueme and Nyeya Yen and copied to the GBC Ura Radio in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region.
The Movement which was formed in 2015 in Bolgatanga, had among its objectives of ensuring fairness, equity, social and economic justices for all Ghanaians particularly the vulnerable.
It has branches across all the 10 regions of Ghana. It aims at providing an alternative to the existing political parties which maintain what they described as the neo-colonial economy.
The Movement indicated that, in as much as it has appreciated government’s objective to collect taxes to pay for social services, it did not think the approach by the government to exempt students from the free SHS programme whose parents have not registered for the TIN was the right way to raise revenue for the country.
The SJM emphasised that, if such an action is taken by the government, it will inadvertently affect students from poor backgrounds.
It is important to note that millions of Ghanaians live in rural areas and are often subsistence farmers. It is often people from poor backgrounds who have problems registering for such schemes.
The movement called on the government to take cognisance of the fact that even with the National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS registration; it takes days if not weeks for people to register for scheme.
The statement stated that for the government to come out with the TIN registration and expect people from all walks of life, especially the poor people in rural areas to register with the scheme before their children could benefit from the Free SHS Programme would defeat the purpose of the programme if implemented.
The SJM stressed that, there are several ways by which government can get people to register for TIN and not threatening them with withdrawals of free SHS to their children if they do not register for TIN.
Government must ensure through its revenue agencies register people for TIN and not use the qualification of free SHS for TIN registration.
It therefore called on the government to immediately rescind its decision and find alternative ways to encourage Ghanaians to register with TIN.
If Ghana means; God Has Appointed Nkrumah Already, then we were blessed as a country by the first President of the Republic of Ghana Osagyefo and his wisdom.
From Gold cost to Ghana, more than six decades down the lane, Gold was mined in commercial quantities by our colonial Masters and build Golden Cities and Empires in the western blocs, still we have it across the length and breadth of the country.
“A country with less than 30 million people, blessed with abundance natural resources such as Bauxite, Manganese, Diamond, Granite, Cocoa, Timber, wonderful tourism sites, vast arable land suitable for Agriculture, good underground water and free sunshine for solar energy yet her people are still suffering in the areas of food security- Agriculture, health and education the cardinal points of developing a country to be self reliant. What can we say? Ask for divine intervention? He has already intervined. Let us all take the bull by the horn and get our economic independence it is only that Ghana can become free indeed.”
Story by: Emmanuel Akayeti
