By Francis Ntow/Edward Dankwah
Accra, Sept 01, GNA – Some Ghanaians have called on the Government to reintroduce the collection of road tolls and a review of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme in the 2023 budget.
They said bringing back tollbooths would not only give employment to alleviate the sufferings of many who had been made jobless but help shore up Government’s revenue.
Also, streamlining the finance aspect of the free SHS programme to make parents pay for some items, including examination fee and would reduce the challenges confronting the implementation of the programme.
Those were views expressed by some Ghanaians at a forum in Accra to collate input into the 2023 National Budget Statement and Economic Policy, expected to be read to Parliament this month.
They also asked the Government to properly finance the implementation of various flagship programmes like the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and One District-One Factory (1D1F) and synchronise them to impact the economy.
The event was organised by SEND Ghana in partnership with Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and OXFAM Ghana.
Nene Nuertey Opata, Secretary, Ghana Federation of the Physically Challenged, Tema, said: “We had tolls which were giving us money, and could have helped us build roads, but we collapsed it, relying on the introduction of E-Levy. All these are making things difficult for the nation. At least, we could have implemented the E-Levy alongside the road tolls.”
Nene Nuertey also said: “Currently, free education is even a problem; the feeding of students is becoming a problem. So, government should realign the free SHS programme to meet the current structure of the economy.”
“If the Government would get enough money to support all these things, I endorse it fully, but if it would not get the needed money for its implementation, then there should be a review,” he emphasised.
Mr Stephen Atasige, Country Coordinator, GHAI, touched on health, and noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had showed that countries could be devastated when not well prepared for crisis.
He said: “After the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve also been faced with other epidemics; monkey pox, Marburg and we can expect even more due to changing global events. So, we should ensure that we have equitable and sustainable financing in place as a country.”
He observed from discussions at the event that Ghanaians were concerned about the Government implementing the country’s medium-term plan (2022-2025) to ensure prompt response to epidemics and pandemics to ensure public health security and safety.
Dr Alex Amankwah-Poku, Head, Budget Development and Reforms, Ministry of Finance, assured of Government’s continued engagement to ensure “it prepares and implements a budget that is responsive to the needs and aspirations of its citizenry.”
Other officers from the Budget Planning Units of the Ministry of Education, Gender, Children and Social Protection, as well as the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources were part of the discussions.
GNA