The theme for this year’s NCCE Citizenship Week celebration is “our taxes build a great Ghana”.  Some of them questioned why streets and roads in the District were either not tarred or had developed several potholes even though Ghanaians were paying taxes.

They noted that even though government was taking taxes and road tolls from citizens, the deplorable nature of roads in the country as a whole did not reflect the usage of such levies.  Others also enquired from the civic educators and resource persons that visited their school what taxation was, the various types and its usage and punishment for its evasion.

They further asked if the President, his vice, ministers and parliamentarians also paid taxes before requesting citizens to do same.  They also wondered if they were to pay taxes on small gifts such as stationeries they received from their friends and family as people were required to pay gift tax.

The school children promised to pay their taxes in future and encouraged their parents and relatives to do so but questioned why residents of Ningo-Prampram had to travel to either Ashaiman or Tema to register to obtain their Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) as the Ghana Revenue Authority had no office in the District.

The children further wanted to know what the citizens could do if government officials embezzled and misappropriate the taxes they paid.Some of the resource persons who interacted with the school children and answered their questions included: Mrs Gifty Ofori Ansah, Ningo-Prampram Health Director, Mr Raymond Akadi, Public Relation Officer for the Ningo-Prampram District Education Directorate, Mr Ebenezer Cudjoe, Tema Metropolitan Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and Mr Benjamin Armah, Ningo-Prampram District Coordinator for the Assembly.

Miss Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu, Ningo-Prampram District NCCE Director said they visited 60 schools in the Districts, where they educated the children on taxation and the need for them to serve as tax ambassadors.

Miss Badu said it was civic duty of every Ghanaian to pay tax and declare their income honestly as that was one of the ways government accrued revenue to embark on developmental programmes in the country.