Nana Akomea chastises Alban Bagbin-Says he was in Parliament when sanitary pad tax was passed

The Managing Director of State Transport Company (STC), Nana Akomea has expressed shock at the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin for raising concerns about the 20 percent tax on sanitary pads in Ghana.

The former Member of Parliament for Okaikwei South stated that at the time the tax policy on sanitary pads and other products was being approved by parliament, Speaker Bagbin was in the House.

Hence he does not understand the tenacity with which the Speaker of Parliament is calling for the scrapping of the tax he aided in bringing to existence.

“As for the Speaker, he is been there forever. And I suspect he is been there forever whether as MP or Speaker, he is been there forever. So, he must have been there when some of these tax policies were approved by parliament. And so I’m a little surprised at his passion that is speaking now.

“That passion should have been brought to bear when the measure came to parliament,” Nana Akomea said on a panel on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has vehemently opposed the imposition of taxes on sanitary pads, referring to it as a cardinal sin committed by Parliament.

This was in response to a petition calling for a reduction or elimination of taxes on sanitary pads. The Speaker announced during parliamentary proceedings on Thursday, June 22, that he is taking the matter seriously.

Bagbin questioned the rationale behind passing a law that imposes taxes on sanitary pads and stated that it should not have been allowed by the House.

“Why should we pass a law imposing taxes on sanitary pads? This is unconscionable; it is a cardinal sin, and the house shouldn’t have allowed it at all,” Speaker Bagbin earlier said in parliament.