New Patriotic Party flagbearer Mahamudu Bawumia has clarified his own remarks suggesting the government may pay churches for developmental projects rather than impose taxes on them.

Addressing clergy members in the Northeast Region as part of his nationwide tour, Vice President Bawumia emphasised that his comments, which he made in jest, had been misconstrued.

Acknowledging the significant contributions of churches and faith-based organizations to Ghana's development, Dr. Bawumia highlighted their role in building schools, hospitals, and other essential facilities.

He underscored the vital societal functions these institutions fulfil, suggesting that without their contributions, Ghana would face considerable challenges.

Dr. Bawumia reiterated that he had not advocated for direct payments to churches but rather proposed providing incentives to encourage further development efforts. He emphasised the importance of partnerships between the government and religious institutions, likening them to domestic development partners.

The Vice President's remarks come in the wake of a meeting with clergy members in the Bono East region, where he emphasised the need to recognise and support the substantial contributions of churches to Ghana's social and economic fabric.

 “Look at the number of hospitals the churches have built. Look at the number of universities the churches have built and the faith-based organisations have built. Look at the number of people the churches and faith-based organisations take care of on a daily basis. Can you imagine? Just take a thought for a moment that you wake up tomorrow and all the schools, universities and hospitals the churches have built disappear. They just disappear. How would Ghana be like? Ghana will collapse. Isn’t it? We will not survive in this sort of situation because there will be chaos”, Dr Bawumia said.

“So, at that point, I was joking and I said, ‘Oh…people are talking about taxing churches. I don’t believe, and we will not tax churches. Because if you look at the work the churches have done, then I was joking then, maybe we should have actually paid them for what they did, not really trying to tax them. But I wasn’t really saying we should pay churches, no. I am saying that we should give incentives to churches to do more.”

Dr Bawumia noted: “Unless you don’t understand the work the church has done. If you are looking at the buildings, the way they keep the society together, the universities, the hospitals, the schools, it is massive. It is just massive. Many churches have hundreds of schools. So, I don’t see and I will not have a situation where we are taxing churches.

“We will rather want to give churches incentives to support what the government is doing. I want us to be partners in the way that the development partners are with us. You are our domestic development partners and we will give you incentives to do more.”